The Search For Happily Ever After
by TiredOfBeingNice
Summary: Third in the Kingdom's End trilogy. The fairytale realm is burning into chaos. The characters of the stories are running loose. A member of Team V is held hostage in the fantasy world that is going into flames. And now - as always - Team V has to go back to the fairytale realm for the last time to finish what they started, and go on the search for their happily ever after.
1. The End Has Begun (Origins)

**A/N- Wassup? It be TOBN here with a new STORY! YAY!**

 **First of all; happy birthday fanfic buddy! *Balloons and cake and imaginary cookies EVERYWHERE!* Jokes! But you already got my birthday present, I assume, and I went through all that cheesy stuff, so...yeah! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!**

 **And happy day for all you guys, huh? You finally get some closure on the fairytale realm! That's right; the last book in the Kingdom's End trilogy has commenced! And who is as excited as I am, right? RIGHT? Jokes!**

 **Nevertheless, I don't really have much to say about this, as for the fact there will be action, no more really complex plots (lol), and a lot of cute romance to go here and there.**

 **What happened last book, you ask? Well, maybe you should read the first two books, right? Jokes! But in the very last chapter of After Ever After, it had seemed Della was evil, Stephanie wants to helps in some way, and Ross and Samantha have some explaining to do!**

 **This story should be a solid 8-10 chapters. Probably 10, since all the books were 10 chapters. So yeah! There's your heads up.**

 **Let's do yet _another_ age count, shall we: Ross is 45 and Samantha is 40, Stephanie is god know's how long; she's immortal. Oh! And Evelyn is 60 And that is pretty much all I need to say, so yeah. I am terribly sorry if any math in this story is wrong :P**

 **So with that, let's get this started, shall we?**

 **Drop a review, and...**

 **ENJOY!**

 **P.S- Couldn't decide what title I wanted, so I chose both :P**

 ** _Bolded Italics- Samantha or Ross talking_**

 **Bold- Stephanie**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 1: The End Has Begun (Origins)

* * *

Ethan, Benny, Sarah, Erica and Jane gathered in the living room with Evelyn giving out cups of tea. They had placed a heavy restoration spell on Whitechapel, and everyone in the town forgot anything ever happened. No shadows, no evil beings, no nothing. No one remembered a thing.

Except for everyone who _did_ remember.

Except for everyone who wasn't gonna forget any time soon.

"Dad, mom," Ethan started, sipping the herbal tea slowly as he stared at his parents, who happened to be the center of attention at the moment. "Care to explain now?" He asked once more, making everyone stare at the pair of parents. Jane was Ross looked at Samantha with worried eyes as he frowned deeply, looking away.

"I don't..." He trailed off when Samantha shut him off.

"We should, Ross." She cried out, startling everyone. "We need to. We owe it to them to have some answers, and after everything that has happened, I don't want to hide anything anymore, Ross! I don't want anyone else to get hurt!" She said, sobbing as Benny rubbed her back.

"Take it easy, Mrs. M." He said quietly. "I don't want anyone getting hurt either, and I want answers as much as you do, but we all need to stay calm." He reassured. Samantha nodded as she wiped her tears. Ross sighed as he looked at everyone.

"Well-"

He was cut off with a stern voice that crept into the room.

"No."

Everyone turned around to see Stephanie, standing near the kitchen. She walked towards everyone with steely eyes as she sat down beside the Morgans. Ross scooted away from her, not wanting anything to do with the evil sorcerer.

"I am not going to let you tell this story without me. It'd be _so_ unfair." She said with a frown. Ross growled.

"Why should you get a say in this?" He hissed, pouncing towards Stephanie, whose eyes flared in rage. Samantha pulled her husband back as he calmed down a bit. Samantha sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Let her speak." She said to her husband. "She...she wants to help." Samantha then looked at Stephanie with stern eyes and bit the bottom of her lip.

"But Stephanie, if you dare say one false statement, I will personally kill you." She gritted out. Stephanie laughed.

"Kill me? With what powers?" She teased, making Samantha growl. Ethan just groaned loudly.

"Let's get on with the story already, alright?" He said in slight annoyance. Ross cleared his throat as he nodded, closing his eyes and remembering the day as if it were yesterday. He then opened them and looked at the teens slowly, one by one.

Stephanie waved her hands and a glittery image floated into the air. Samantha nodded for Ross to continue as he took a breath and watched as projections of himself and his wife danced in the air, for everyone to see. They all leaned in close as Ross began his own fairytale.

"Oh, it was a long time ago..."

* * *

 _ **"...and your mom and I were living in Whitechapel, and the year was 1995"**_

 _The gang watched as a younger Ross and Samantha. Samantha was 20, and Ross was 25. They stood happily in front of their new home in Whitechapel, smiling as Ross slung his arm over his wife's shoulder, kissing her cheek happily._

 _"We're finally gonna start a family." Samantha whispered to her husband, making Ross grin._

 ** _"Your dad and I were eager to start a family. We wanted one so badly, and would do anything to have one. But no matter how hard we tried, I could never get pregnant."_**

 _Samantha and Ross kissed, falling onto the bed at the brink of night._

 ** _"We were so determined; we kept trying, and trying, and trying. It never worked. And I was slowly starting to lose hope."_**

* * *

"Then what happened?" Rory asked eagerly, like a child. Stephanie gave him stern eyes.

"Please, just let us talk, boy." Stephanie sneered. Rory was taken back when Sarah rubbed her back reassuringly. Samantha sighed as she and Ross continued her story.

* * *

 _ **"But tragedy struck so suddenly."**_

 _The gang saw Samantha, crying on a hospital bed, Ross crying beside her. The doctor checked his clipboard with a saddened face, and they all saw him mouth the words "Sorry". Samantha continued to cry, and cry, and cry..._

 ** _"I found out that I wasn't going to be able to have a baby. The doctor had told me something happened to my body, and we were never to have children."_**

 _Samantha sat on the couch sadly, wiping tears as Ross tried his best to talk to the adoption agencies._

 ** _"We tried to adopt a child, but we were never a good fit. And Ross and I couldn't bare to tell our child he/she was adopted. We weren't prepared "_**

 _Samantha and Ross stood at the adoption house with sad eyes._

 ** _"But things started to turn around when we found Stephanie in the same year. She was 17, living blocks away from us. And we found out she was like us: She was an Earth Priestess."_**

 **"I suppose they thought I was 17. They didn't know I was immortal, feeding off souls in their own town I lived in Whitechapel all my life. Do you remember the cheerleading incident, Evelyn? The year was 1972; you and I were 17. I wanted to be on the cheerleading squad, and I never made it. I always had beef with you and your family, Evelyn."**

* * *

"Then why did you go after the Morgans, if it was my family you had trouble with? You should've came to us." Benny said, annoyed and disappointed he couldn't protect his best friend and his family from Stephanie. "Then with the fairytale book; you wanted my grandma. You never targeted Ethan; why then?" Stephanie sighed.

"Trust me, I wanted to. When you, Ethan and Sarah joined the squad, I knew it was perfect payback to suck all your souls. When that backfired, I planted the book. But that was when I realized Jane had come with you guys, and how much lies she had been told..." Jane squirmed uneasily as Stephanie shook her head, not finishing her running sentence.

"I am getting too far ahead; let me finish." She said at last, waving her hands as she projected another picture.

* * *

 _The picture fizzled into Samantha and Ross talking to Stephanie late at night in the forest. Stephanie began to talk._

 **"They were a promising couple, let me tell you that. They were so desperate to start a family of their own children. So I made them a deal; my help, in exchange for their magic."**

 _Stephanie held an orb and Samantha's and Ross' magic transferred into the orb._

 **"I had a daughter of my own, which we all know is Della, but I neglected her because of this project. If I could succeed, in making a baby, I could expand the power and make so many minions. I planned that after I give the child to the Morgans, I would steal her, a year after, and raise her as my own. I would duplicate her when she gets older, and continue until I had a whole army. I would dominate the world."**

 _The gang saw Stephanie, cackling over a steaming pot, with Della right behind her, sadly playing with her toys alone._

 _ **"We didn't know Stephanie's intentions at the time."**_

 **"And honestly? Neither did I."**

 ** _"But things started to change drastically. And something neither me or my wife expected."_**

 _Samantha held a positive pregnancy test, with wide eyes. Ross' eyes brimmed with happy tears._

 ** _"It was December, in 1997. Something changed in my body. I thought it wasn't possible. The doctors were wrong; I was pregnant."_**

 _Samantha had a baby bump, and Ross rubbed it happily._

 **"But you have to remember; this was after the deal we made. And I had taken everything in my power to make sure that baby was going to be born. I never heard from them for a solid year."**

 _ **"And in that year, me and Ross were secretly dealing with a baby. We wanted to back out of the deal, but it was useless; she had our magic, and she could probably use it against us. We just had to hope it would fail."**_

 _The gang saw Samantha cradling a small baby boy in her arms, with Ross by her side._

 ** _"They 9 months flew, and in the middle of 1998, Ethan was born."_**

 _Ethan, now two years old, stayed inside his room, curtains closed, engulfed in darkness._

 ** _"But we were fearful for Ethan; what would Stephanie do when she found out? We were definitely going to find out. In the next two years, we kept Ethan hidden from the world, keeping him in his room, where he'd make no contact."_**

* * *

"I never remembered that." Ethan said with a small frown, making Samantha sigh.

"You couldn't remember. Because we...we erased it from your mind." Ethan's eyes widened as Stephanie shook her head.

"Shush, boy. Would you really want to remember such things, anyway? Let's go on with the story; things only go more downhill from here..."

* * *

 _ **"We didn't hear from Stephanie for three years. We figured she couldn't do it, and didn't want to tell us. At the time, we had no clue Stephanie was evil and she had been working on it all along. We always forgot we made a deal with a witch; and some shady things could happen doing so."**_

 _Samantha was seen with her eyes wide open, Ross protectively right beside her as Ethan buried his face in his parent's leg._

 **"It turned out that I'd have to sacrifice of the Crystal Heart, something so powerful that I had from generations of my family. It disappeared when the spell was complete, and I never saw it again. Of course, not until yesterday. And now Della has it."**

 _Stephanie held her hand towards the family, but Ross blocked it with the orb of magic. Samantha held a baby._

 _ **"It was the year 2000; Jane was magically created using our magic, which also had our DNA. Stephanie was furious when she found out about Ethan, and she was determined to get us all killed."**_

 _Ross sneaking out an open window, a box in his hand._

 **"But I didn't know that Ross had stole the box of his and his wife's magic, that excess magic that I didn't need. He stole the orb and used it against me. Defeated, I fledAnd from that day on, I swore revenge on Ethan's family."**

* * *

"And that is that." Stephanie said slowly, looking at everyone's reactions.

Jane silently looked at her parents, then at Stephanie, and shaking her head, she walked outside, getting fresh air. Ethan sighed, rubbing his forehead as Sarah went out to find her. Samantha broke into sobs as Ross rubbed her shoulder. He looked at everyone, primarily Ethan.

"After that, Stephanie never bothered us again. She moved somewhere, but her house was never bought. Della was transferred to a different family, the one I kept close with. That's why Della and her parents was at the dinner we hosted, Ethan. I never wanted to give them business pitches; I wanted to keep an eye on Della. " Ross said, making Ethan nod.

"We erased your memory of anything you ever saw that night, and I hid the box in the ground, burying it so we would never see it again. Of course, the box still contained bits of our magic, but we never wanted to introduce you to your past." He explained. Erica frowned.

"Why do you have it now?" Stephanie sighed.

"After the failed attempts of the cheerleading plan, turning old, and failing to kill you all in the fairytale realm, I returned to my home in Whitechapel. When you were all in the fairytale realm, I was in a remote area in the forest, controlling everything. When that failed, I went to my old house. I never saw Della since she moved to her own family. I relocated the Morgan's magic, dug it up, stole their magic, and hid the empty box in their closet, to let them know I returned." She explained. Benny bit his lip nervously.

"Okay, we are up to speed. But that still never explains why you went for the Morgans all of the sudden. After our first visit to the fairytale realm, you targeted my grandma and my family. And when you went all shadow crazy on Whitechapel, you targeted the Morgans. What gives?" He questioned. Stephanie shrugged.

"When I found out Jane came into the fairytale realm with you guys, and I saw how much she had grown, I was determined to get her back, erase her memory, and raise her as my own. That was my original plan. Evelyn was never a worthy opponent, anyway." She said, making Evelyn roll her eyes. Ethan started to piece things together.

"And that's why you captured her. You were going to eliminate us, then erase Jane's memory of us, now that there was no proof of us. Then raise her as your own, and possibly create clones of her, making your own army" He said. Stephanie nodded. "Smart boy." She hissed between her teeth, making Ethan growl. Erica frowned.

"How could you do that to a little girl? Do you realize what stress and trauma you just gave Jane? She may never recover from this. How could you be so evil?" She said, all eyes on Stephanie, who said nothing more.

When it was obvious that she wasn't going to respond, Erica sighed, deciding to ask another question.

"What about Della's parents?" She asked. Samantha frowned.

"Ross and I checked that when the battle started. Della killed them." She answered, making Ethan shudder. "She killed her own foster parents, and now wants to spill the blood of her mother." Ethan frowned. "Did Della have a dad?" Stephanie's eyes twinkled.

"That, boy, is a story for another time." She said with a wink. Benny sighed

"So Della has the Crystal Heart now, and she has Rory. Why would Della want the Crystal Heart? Why would Della want _Rory_?" Stephanie shook her head.

"She wants it because one, it is rightfully hers, since it has been in my family for generations, and two, she wants the power. It had turned out that the Crystal Heart went into the Oblivion when I made Jane, and when the sky cracked open, it was released with even more power from when it started. When Benny shot it, it drifted to its rightful owner; Della." She paused.

"And maybe she likes Rory a little more than we all thought." She added. Erica winced.

"It's so evil." Erica shuddered. "I can't believe Rory used to date her."

Silence crept in as Benny cleared his throat.

"Why are you helping us, Stephanie? After all the hell you dragged us through. Why help us now?" Stephanie sighed.

"Because Della is my daughter. I want her dead, after all she ever did to foil my plan. And you guys know her more than I do." Ross frowned.

"How can we trust you?" He asked. Stephanie smiled.

"You can't." She replied.

Evelyn caught everyone's attention, walking to the kitchen and returning with a burnt book. She chuckled.

"Even after all those flames, the book still lives on. You are all going to go in, and you are going to get Della and Rory _and_ the Crystal Heart back." She said, laying the crispy paged book on the table. Sarah and Jane had returned silently, and Jane still made no eye contact with her parents. Ethan looked at Sarah as she sat back down and quietly explained everything, and when he asked her about Jane, Sarah never responded, but only gave him a sad smile.

"She just needs time." She said finally, making Ethan nod in agreement. Benny sighed.

"Why are we going back in there? What if Della isn't in there?" He asked. Stephanie frowned.

"I made that dimension with my bare hands, Benjamin. I _know_ she's in there. But there is one problem." Everyone stared at her as Stephanie sighed.

"When Rory was in the dimension, he accidently screwed up Hansel And Gretel. It was for a good cause, him being able to escape, but ever since he left, the whole place was going crazy. Not only was half of it burned, but the fire was extinguished by a wave of water that my daughter created. It washed away all the plots of the fairytales, and now every fairytale blocking our path is messed up. The only way we can get to Della, Rory, and the Crystal Heart, is to fix the fairytales." Benny cracked his knuckles.

"Sounds simple enough," He said. Stephanie shook her head.

"Trust me; it's not. The characters don't _know_ their fairytale anymore. The force fields were builded back up, and we need to break through them with the help of the dagger you used," Stephanie said, and Evelyn slid it on the table and into Ethan's hands. Ethan chuckled quietly.

"I thought this was long gone after the battle," He said, spinning it in his hand. Evelyn smiled. "Even without my magic, I am still as wise as it gets; I have my ways." She explained. Stephanie sighed.

"Let's go; we mustn't waste time." She said.

An hour later, Ethan, Jane, Sarah, Benny, Erica, and Stephanie had prepared, bringing the dagger and more ammo. They said their goodbyes and Stephanie whispered the spell.

And for yet another time, Ethan found himself drowsy and sleepy, and was once again whisked to the place he never thought he'd be again.

It was off to the Fairytale Realm for the end, that had just begun.

* * *

 **A/N- Probably as long [and confusing] as this is gonna get. I really hope that made sense. If I am missing anything, sorry. Sorry sorry sorry :P**

 **Anyway, drop a review, and I will see you next update :)**

 **In Fangs, We Trust**


	2. I'm Not Kissing Him

**A/N- Wassup? It be TOBN here with a new chapter of The Search For Happily Ever After - finally!**

 **Yeah, I am sorry it has been a month since I updated this story. I swear that I never meant for it to happen, but it just did, okay? I had a few stories I needed to juggle and finish, which I did, and now I have one more coming out next Saturday, so I was starting the drafting for that. But I do hope you can forgive me of my sin - hint hint for first chapter of More Than Friends [which I have been working on for a while now - and enjoy this chapter!**

 **So this is where all the problems in the fairytale realm start, after hearing the truth about Jane, Ethan, and their parents' relationships with Stephanie long ago. And now they are all travelling into the fairytale realm together - Stephanie is even helping them? Is she to be trusted? Or not? You'll have to find out!**

 **Shoutouts to...**

 **MBAV fan66- I know! I am sorry you had to wait another month for it to come back with a second chapter. But I have reasons. I promise! Jokes! But hey! I am glad your excitement lingered, and even with a month, I still have stuff to show you! I hope you are excited, fanfic buddy! Thanks for your review! Much love :)**

 **Willowleaf- Yeah they do! It's been awhile since the last book came out anyway, so don't worry; it's completely normal to forget. Jokes! But I am glad that you are enjoying the series; thanks for your review!**

 **Thank you for your review**

 **And with that, drop a review, kiss some frogs, and...**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 2: I'm Not Kissing Him

* * *

Ethan woke up, dazed and confused. His eyesight was unfocused and as he blinked, the blurs slowly disappeared. He shook his head to erase the lines as he looked around wearily, rubbing his head - he felt like he got a nosebleed and passed out or something.

"Guys?" he croaked. "Are we there yet?" But he heard no response as he frowned, looking around a bit more faster now - nice tunic they got on him; although he kinda missed the princely suit he had the last time he was here - trying to look for his friends.

When he walked around a bit, he found all of his friends - Jane [oh thank god], Sarah, Erica, Rory, Benny and Stephanie - all under a burnt willow tree, still asleep. Ethan frowned a bit; he was a bit of an early riser, he supposed.

He didn't want to wake anyone up just yet - who knows what nasty remarks Erica would throw - so he just decided to protect them until they woke up, and look around for a while before they all wake up.

 _'If anything happens,'_ he thought bravely. _'I'll be right here.'_

He realized they weren't in the forest, but on a tall hill. A single, burnt willow tree laid on top of the hill, which was where they are. Ethan was surprised how they even woke up here - what he didn't know is what happened below.

"Oh...my...god..." Ethan stammered. He felt a hand on his shoulder and gasped quietly, turning around - damn, he wished he could shield out his sword or something, because how badass would that be, right? - and staring at the person behind him. His widened eyes narrowed.

"Benny." He breathed out, his mouth curved into a more relaxed smile. Benny was in a hunter tunic as well - to be honest, he looked like the prince from 'Sleeping Beauty' - and smiled at Ethan, who was slightly shorter than him.

"Hey, E. Where are we?" Benny questioned, peering over Ethan's shoulder. Ethan saw his friends waking up as well, walking towards the edge of the hill. They all stopped just an inch behind Ethan, who frowned at the world below.

"It's all...burned." Ethan murmured. Stephanie covered her mouth.

The lovely fairytale realm they once knew was now ashes and bits of burnt building scattered across the land. People were running around the town, screams of terror and worry echoing below and could be heard from all the way up here.

Above the burning city was a huge storm cloud, shadows circling around it, a huge beanstalk sprouting below it, but half cut. It wobbled a bit, as if it were about to fall, and a cackle could be heard from the cloud. The only thing that was colorful enough to stand out was a beam of rainbow light - you could even hear a small yelp for help.

Stephanie pushed past Ethan in a wobbled shock, almost crying.

"The world I created," she mumbled darkly. "She destroyed it."

No one ever saw this side to Stephanie before; it was a bit astonishing - even more nerve racking, actually; if this is what Stephanie was like when she saw a creation of hers destroyed by her own daughter, this might be harder than they thought.

"You couldn't help it, Steph," Benny whispered. Stephanie whipped her head towards Benny, sending a spark of magic at his feet. He jumped, nearly falling off the hill as Stephanie growled, narrowing his eyes at the fellow spellmaster.

"Don't call me that."

"It's what I called you when you were all...um..."

" _Hot?_ " Stephanie filled in for Benny incredulously. Benny decided not to say anything else as she just cleared her throat, ruffling her dress a bit as Erica hissed at the two magic beings in annoyance.

"We should be fighting her. Not each other." Stephanie glared at Erica.

"Easier said than done, _blondie_." Stephanie sneered. Erica growled as she flashed her fangs at Stephanie.

"Who's talking, _cheerleader_?" She hissed. Stephanie narrowed her eyes, not responding as Sarah pulled the three away from each other and looked sternly at everyone, taking control of the situation as fast as she could.

"Calm down guys." Sarah said, rolling her eyes. She looked at her best friend, and frowned at her anger filled face.

"First of all, Erica, take your own advice." She said sternly, and Erica just rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just as long as when we're done, I can suck her dry." Stephanie stepped back - a bit frightened to be honest - but tried not to make it visible. Ethan's eyes widened.

"One point five," Ethan jumped in. Sarah rolled her eyes at the nerdy seer's number. "No one bites _anyone_." He glared at Erica and then to Stephanie.

"But if you fool around, Stephanie, I won't hesitate to execute you or something." He said, raising his head up confidently. Sarah smiled a bit at the newfound confidence of her boyfriend as Stephanie just rolled her eyes, nodding. Sarah stared at her.

"Second of all, Stephanie, no more insulting us, because you are skating on thin line," She demanded, and Erica smirked.

"Bitch," She added, and Stephanie just sighed loudly.

" _Alright_." she said with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest. "Dammit, teens are so annoying." Benny was about to open his mouth to say something snarky, but Sarah shut him up with a sharp glare.

"And three," she said, staring at the spellmaster. "No more flirting with woman older than you," Benny opened his mouth, but Sarah rose a hand. "Despite the fact that she may have been your age a while ago." She stared at the three.

" _Understood_?" Sarah asked deeply, eyes glowing yellow. Benny nodded quickly as the others - before Sarah placed some mind control thing on him or something - standing up straight and saluting like a soldier.

"Yes ma'am." He said with a dorky smile, and Jane - who had been silent this whole time - spoke up.

"Can we please start going now?" Jane squeaked quietly. Everyone stared at Jane, who looked down at her feet. "I want to go as soon as I can." She said, and Ethan ruffled her hair, trying to make her feel a little more better than she did at the moment.

"No worries." He narrowed his eyes at the bottom of the hill, and smiled.

"Because I am pretty sure the first fairytale in need of fixing is going to be there as soon as we go down." He said with a brave smile.

The gang was silent, but they nodded, heading down the hill to fix their first fairytale.

* * *

Benny groaned loudly, trailing behind his friends tiredly. They've been walking for an hour, and they were only halfway down the hill. Jane tiredly sat down on a rock as Benny moaned, massaging his feet wearily. Erica just sighed loudly

"We have been walking for a _fucking_ hour - where is the end of this hill?!" Erica swore, kicking a branch. Ethan shrugged, plopping down on the grassy hill. It was true - it was like the hill would never reach the ground. Sarah nodded.

"Do you think it's part of the fairytale?" She asked. "Because this we should've reached the bottom of this hill a long time ago. Maybe there's a fairytale about...hills." She prompted helplessly. Stephanie spat onto the grass, glaring at the brunette with steely eyes - she kind of looked tired, but if she was, it sure wasn't showing.

"A fairytale about _hills_?" Stephanie cackled - much to Sarah's dismay. "What kind of fairytale is about hills?" She sent a small burst of fire at the grass, burning it crisp as everyone jumped, slightly surprised at the action.

"This must be the doings of my no-good daughter," she sneered. "and her little trinket." Erica sighed.

"First of all, this place is burned enough, so for god's sake, please _stop_." She said, annoyed. Stephanie rolled her eyes - she couldn't bring herself to care. Not being able to take it, Benny pointed accusingly at the older woman, slight infuriated at this point.

"And second of all, we wouldn't be here, trying to find my best friend, or suffering your daughter's _doings_ ," he said, placing air quotations over his head. "if you didn't even make this realm in the first place!" He pointed out. Ethan looked quite astonished at his best friend's temper. Benny's eyes widened as more thoughts came to him.

"To add to that, if _you_ made this realm, why can't _you_ fix this?!" He yelled. Stephanie looked a bit hurt at the spellmaster's comment.

"It's because of her," she whispered. "she has the Crystal Heart, and she is in control of the world I created." She paused. "And I had my reasons." She added feebly. Jane saw the hurt in her eyes, but chose not to pity her; she had caused her - and her family - enough.

"Enough with the fighting, you too!" Ethan said, throwing his hands up frustratingly. Benny and Stephanie glared at Ethan, and Ethan just sighed.

"Why do you guys hate each other so much anyway?" Sarah asked. Benny shrugged, smirking a bit as he crossed his arms defensively. He shot Stephanie a smug and mischievous grin - one that didn't really look to well...

"Maybe it runs in the family." He remarked snarkily - Erica giggled at that.

"You were _flirting_ with me seconds ago!" Stephanie practically screamed.

"More like _hours_ ago!" Ethan butted in, and sighed. Everyone stayed quiet as Sarah fiddled with her thumbs.

"We need to think this through. Della must know that we are here; we need to fight back and tell her that we are gonna do the same to her." She said determinedly. Stephanie scoffed.

"Easier said than done, goody two-shoes." She mumbled darkly.

A moment of silence whisked across like wind as the teenagers - and Stephanie of course - sat on the never-ending hill, dumbfounded.

Suddenly, a folktale of some sort came to mind. Jane snapped her fingers, and everyone turned around to face the young girl. She grinned, tapping her foot as she closed her eyes, trying to remember the silly rhyme she learned in kindergarten - _thank you Miss. Johnny._

"Jack and Jill went up the hill  
To fetch a pail of water  
Jack fell down  
And broke his crown  
And Jill came tumbling after"

Everyone stared at her as Stephanie growled.

"How on earth is that supposed to work? We don't have a crown - we have a never ending hill. Enlighten us, young fool." She insulted. Jane narrowed her eyes angrily.

"That's enough!" She yelled, lunging at Stephanie and started pulling her hair. Stephanie screamed, trying to get Jane off.

"Jane!" Ethan yelled, pulling his sister off. Sarah hissed at Stephanie, and Ethan decided not to lecture - it was clear that Stephanie and Jane probably didn't have the best history in the world. Ethan just had to let them down discreetly.

Benny on the other hand, laid down on his back, and to everyone's surprise, started rolling down the hill.

"Wee!" He exclaimed, eventually reaching the bottom. Stephanie's eyes widened as Jane smirked, laying down on her back as well.

"Young fool." She muttered, and came tumbling after, towards Benny, who was laugh hysterically at the bottom of the hill. Ethan, Sarah and Stephanie peered down, Sarah and Stephanie's dress draping over the hill as Ethan smiled.

"Della's trying to fool us, but she has to do it fairytale style, of course." Ethan murmured. "Clever." He added, and Sarah rolled her eyes, grabbing Ethan's hand and pulling him down over her strongly and they rolled down the hill together.

Stephanie smoothed her dress and just gave up, and rolled down after them.

* * *

"Here we are," Ethan said, staring at the castle that loomed above them. "The first fairytale."

Before anyone could say anything - like how nice the castle was, or how pink it was, or why the hell they were even there - a princess, dressed in a white gown and walking on pearl heels, walked past them, texting furiously on her phone.

"Oh brother," Erica murmured, looking down, rubbing her head furiously.

" _OMG_ ," The blonde princess said. "You did _not_ kiss that...frog!" She said, squeaking in fury. Ethan, upon seeing a frog on a rock near a small pond, waved at the princess. Sarah nudged him - stupid decisions! - but there was no stopping him.

"Ethan!" She hissed. But the princess turned around, raising her eyebrows.

"What do you _peasants_ want?" She puckered her lips as Erica growled - she clearly hated this diva princess. Ethan frowned.

"You kissed a frog."

" _What_?" She asked in shock. Benny pointed to the frog to help, and Jane fiddled with the magic dagger in her dress pocket. The princess - who kissed the frog, of course - frowned at all the people in front of her.

"Why would I kiss a frog? Yuck." She said, rolling her eyes and going to her phone. Erica frowned.

"What's up with 'lemme take a selfie' diva? I thought this princess was nice." She whispered, slightly annoyed at the girl's attitude. Stephanie sighed.

"When Della magically extinguished the fire with water, she washed away the plots of the fairytales, and the shadows of the characters." Jane frowned.

"What shadows?" Ethan quipped in on this one.

"I think I get it." He whispered. Erica crossed her arms.

"Oh yeah?" She challenged. "Enlighten us." Ethan smirked.

"Well, remember when I was turned into 'the Ella Enchanted of Whitechapel'?" Everyone nodded. "Well, that was because Ella's shadow was inside me. Therefore I got Ella's personality and her fairytale character was absorbed into me. Because someone's shadow is kind of what defines someone in a fairytale, or even people in real life. Remember what grandma said about Erica's shadow being feisty, as with her personality, and mine being a bit more lighthearted? Well, without the shadow, the character is kind of...lost." He explained. Stephanie nodded. Benny grinned.

"I brought Ella's shadow-in-a-jar that Grandma captured when we woke up Ethan, so if we need it, we can give it back to Ella." Benny added, patting his messenger bag. Sarah suddenly got it.

"Do you think that the princess' shadow is somewhere here?" She asked Stephanie. She nodded eagerly, seeming oddly excited - or at least, more excited than before. Stephanie stared at Ethan, Sarah and Jane.

"Ethan, Sarah, and Jane?" They nodded. "Try and find the princess' shadow and capture it somehow. It might be in the castle. When you're done, come back and release it into the princess. It should find her, and return to its rightful host, therefore " Jane smiled.

"I can conjure up a jar! I learned that spell for art class." She said proudly. Ethan smiled - at least she was happier now. Erica nodded.

"Cool." She said feebly. "Stephanie, Benny and I will try and get that princess to kiss a frog, so her fairytale plot will get better." Everyone nodded as Sarah, Ethan and Jane took off into the castle - before Benny could protest too.

"Hey you!" Erica yelled. The princess whirled around as Benny levitated her phone out of her hand quickly. She tried and grabbed it, but it landed in Benny's hand with a smirk. She growled, squeaking in fury.

"What the hell?!" She cursed. "Gimme back my phone!" She whined. Benny crossed his arms, nodding to the frog - how innocent of it, just sitting on that rock...

"Not until you kiss that frog." He said. The princess narrowed her eyes - she wasn't gonna lose this game.

"One condition." She said, smirking. Benny wiggled the phone, and the princess' glare faltered. But she shook her head, smiling.

"Magic boy has to kiss old-lady-stinks-a-lot." She said with a malicious glare. Stephanie and Benny's jaws dropped as Erica - even if Benny was her boyfriend - smirked.

" _What_?" They yelled in unison. Erica elbowed both of them.

"Do it," she hissed. "it would show her that it's okay to kiss someone disgusting." Stephanie felt offended as she growled at Erica. Benny sighed.

"Pucker up, Stephanie." He said in defeat, closing his eyes - _It's Erica,_ he thought. _it's Erica._ \- and Stephanie growled, closing hers as well in defeat as the two leaned closer and kissed. The princess laughed, as with Erica - she saw Sarah, Jane and Ethan running back with the shadow in a jar. Success! - and she saw them stop in horror.

The two pulled back, and Benny wiped his lips angrily.

"Tastes like rotten oranges!" He growled. Stephanie gritted her teeth.

"Not a word to your grandma."

"Understood."

The princess laughed, and Benny wiggled the phone again.

"Now what are you gonna do?" Benny asked with a smile. The princess just gagged, scooping up the frog and kissing it. A flash enveloped everyone as Sarah released the shadow into the light, watching as it mixed in and a prince and the princess appeared.

"Golly my!" The princess exclaimed, high and ditzy. Benny palmed the phone - it wasn't like she was gonna care about it anymore. "A prince!" She said with a smile, voice high and girly. The prince probably said some cheesy words, but the gang left quickly.

Jane found the force field at the other side of the castle, and grinned as she took out the dagger and plunged it into the force field. The blue hexagons shattered, and the gang crossed the gates once more with ease.

"One fairytale," Stephanie muttered. "five more to go."

* * *

Della stood on her cloud fortress, watching in a crystal ball at the gang. She growled, smashing a vase to the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" She cursed. She then focused her gaze onto the crystal ball, swiping her finger across the glass as she saw a fuzzy image of the forest. The prince from Sleeping Beauty dazedly walked around, looking confused.

"How about a bit of cloning magic?" She whispered evilly.

She said a spell, and the prince from Sleeping Beauty - along with a bunch of other fairytales the narrator does not want to reveal yet - flickered into a replica of Benny, who blinked widely. Della grinned as she turned more people into clones of other people she knew into fairytale versions of the characters.

Now that Benny was the prince, who knows what would happen?

"Your destruction. That's what'll happen." Della whispered, holding the Crystal Heart to her eye level, staring at the tiny Rory who was trapped in there. He banged against the glass, but there was no use. Della laughed.

"And I'm gonna make sure you watch you friends fall."

She cackled manically, thunder and lightening dancing in the sky, as Rory shook in the Crystal Heart, watching fearfully at Della.

* * *

 **A/N- Looong chapter! Hope it makes up for month hiatus :P**

 **Don't understand what Della did? Well, not to fear. Your questions will be answered on Thursday, when I update again!**

 **In the meanwhile, drop a royal review, and thanks for reading, my friends!**

 _ **Keep On Keeping On**_


	3. Arrogance And Drama

**A/N- Wassup? It be TOBN here with a new chapter of The Search For Happily Ever After!**

 **This chapter is late. Sorry that I'm not sorry; I've been procrastinating a bit this past week. Like, working on unnecessary projects, and homework (Ugh, homework), along with some pretty exciting stuff. So yeah. That's why this is coming late. I'm probably gonna miss a deadline with all this procrastination :P**

 **But yes. Here we are; chapter 3! What happened last time...oh yes! The gang, along with Stephanie, finally reached the fairytale realm, which was a bit burnt and wonky, due to some shadows washing away, thanks to Della; who still has Rory in hostage. Tension is high between two spellmasters - who later had a little steamy moment - and basically, everyone is hating on Stephanie. Is there a reason? DID YOU NOT READ THE LAST TWO BOOKS?! Jokes!**

 **Nonetheless, we also saw Della change some fairytale characters into people we know, perhaps? Maybe like...Benny in Sleeping Beauty as prince?! AGH, THE FEELS! Review if you think Atticus Mitchell should take on the role of the 'Prince' in the next live action Sleeping Beauty! Or maybe I should write a Sleeping Beauty Bethan AU, because how many feels would that give me? *swoon***

 **But I'm getting off topic here; let's get on with the shoutouts!**

 **MBAV fan66- Della brings a whole new meaning to "evil ex girlfriend", am I right, or what? Yeah, my jokes aren't too good this morning; I'm tired*looks around embarrassedly* Fun fact: I originally wanted to introduce the whole "MBAV gang as the fairytale characters" concept, but I totally forgot. But in the original plan out, Erica was supposed to be the princess! Cool, huh? I don't know if I could risk my health on kissing a frog...unless it'll turn into Atticus or something. Maybe a guy who likes me? Who knows? I'm just dreaming way too much. :P Anyway, thanks for your review, fanfic buddy!**

 **Willowleaf- Of course there are many fairytales! This is a fairytale story after all! But I am glad I caught your attention, because I think I'm gonna slip in a little more humour and more problems in this one. Jokes! Anyway, thanks for your review :)**

 **And with that, I hope you have a fangtastic time reading this!**

 **Drop a review, and...**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 3: Arrogance And Drama

* * *

The gang ran through the woods quickly, going all the way until Benny stopped at a bush, huffing and puffing. Ethan jogged in his spot as Erica smirked at him, looking down at the hunched over spellmaster.

"What's wrong, babe," Erica said with an amused smile. "tired already?" Benny looked up.

"You...try running...2.5k in the...frickin' woods..." He panted, and Erica just gave him a smile. Ethan couldn't help but poke a little fun at his best friend as well.

"We all ran 2.5K in Cross Country back in elementary." He pointed out. Everyone stifled their laughs as Benny gave Ethan the hand.

"Says you! I walked." He shot back, and Ethan just barked out a laugh, slinging his arm around his best friend. Benny grinned as he did the same, and Ethan looked up at his slightly taller friend.

"I should know," Ethan remarked. "we walked together."

"Do you dorks do everything together?" Stephanie huffed, and Ethan just shot her a glare.

"No!" He said defensively.

The two walked away in unison, arms still around each other as they walked deeper into the woods together. Sarah, Erica, Stephanie and Jane looked at the two boys in disbelief as Jane just laughed - the first laugh she laughed in a long while - and they followed the two.

"Are we almost there yet?" Jane huffed, once they caught up to the boys. "I'm hungry." Benny nodded, stomach rumbling.

"I agree. I could so go for some pizza right now. Or maybe a hamburger. How about some fries...and onion rings!" He said dreamily, sighing as he dazed off into the distance. Sarah smiled as well, thinking of her own meal.

"I could definitely go for some rats," She said with a sigh. "or maybe even some squirrel." Everyone looked at her as she blushed furiously. "What? Ever since Rory taught me how to fly, he also told me how to make a squirrel actually taste good..." Stephanie gagged as Erica rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. The dorks are right though; if we are not there in the next five minutes, I think I will bite Ethan." She said snakily, and Ethan paled considerably. Sarah looked rather defensive, and Stephanie just sighed.

"Stop talking about eating; I think I see something up ahead." She whispered. Everyone hid behind a bush as they watched a horse gallop into the centre of the forest. Birds sung and flowers glisten...

"Where the hell am I?" A familiar voice echoed into the forest. Benny's eyes widened.

"Is that...me?" He whispered carefully, eyes glued to the teen in the forest.

It was true; it was an exact replica of Benny, except this one wore a red cape and a pointy, red hat, just like the prince in Sleeping Beauty.

 _'Just like I told him.'_ Ethan remembered, shuddering. Did this mean that Della was watching their every move like a hawk? The thought made him sick to the bones; how could they even do anything without Della disrupting it?

"I'm going up there." Benny said, and before anyone could say anything, Benny dashed out of their hiding place and to the prince in the centre of the forest.

"Benny!" Sarah hissed, but it was too late.

"Why do you look like me?" Benny asked his look-alike. The Prince-y Benny frowned, as Benny's friends slowly trailed behind him.

"You should be lucky you look like me, boy. You look a bit more better." He smirked a bit, eyes narrowed to Benny's shirt. "Lose the striped disaster though, you imbecile." He remarked, and Benny just growled, wanting to land a punch on what seemed to be a more arrogant Benny.

"If Della did this!" He roared, lunging through the figure. And when I say though, he _literally_ went _through_ himself.

"I-It's a hologram." Stephanie whispered scratchily. "Just like the one I created when I trapped you all in here." Ethan nodded as Benny dazedly looked around, blinking widely, obviously confused. Erica helped him up, but the real Benny shook her off.

"Hey! It took a long time with this hair; watch it." He hissed, and the Prince Benny just smiled wickedly, eyes glowing red. Real Benny's did as well, and Jane saw it all happen very quickly.

"I think when Benny made contact with his doppelgänger, some of that personality started leaking into him." She said quickly. Ethan pulled Benny away, and Benny shook his head fast.

"W-What happened?" He stammered. "Where are we?"

Ethan just shook his head as he caught sight of a brave looking shadow, whisking across the woods. Jane saw the smirk on his brother's face, and conjured up another jar. Ethan explained that he and Benny were going to get the jar, so Benny wouldn't be washed into an arrogant version of himself, and they whisked off into the woods to find the shadow, jar in hand.

"The two do everything together," Sarah mumbled, and Jane looked at the confused, scared, but roughly arrogant Benny hologram.

"It says that Prince Phillip is heroic, brave, and easy-going." She said, remembering when she had read Sleeping Beauty in kindergarten. Erica scoffed.

"Easy going? How about easy-to-show-off-his-biceps?" She pointed out, looking at her boyfriend - or at least, a version of her boyfriend - show off his abs to Sarah and Stephanie, the two looking disgusted. A lightbulb went off in Jane's head.

"Prince Philip is also pretty loving and humble, especially when it comes to a _hot Sleeping Beauty..._ " She said, nudging Erica. Erica looked at the Princely Benny, then at the smirk on Jane's face, and shook her head rapidly.

"No way." She growled. Jane sighed. "C'mon, Erica! Take one for the team!" She protested. Sarah and Stephanie came back from afar, and they looked at Erica.

"Please." They said in unison, and in slight disgust. Erica pouted, staring at Benny.

"He's just like every jock in the whole entire school now. I am not flirting with him." She said quickly. She heard Benny whistle, and Jane looked at her with a mischievous glisten in her eyes.

"You know you want to get back into your old flirting ways. Who better to do it than your boyfriend?" She paused. "Well, kind of your boyfriend." Erica huffed as she glared at the little girl carefully.

"You know, Prince Philip is also said to be manipulative; I wonder why you didn't get the role." She hissed. Jane grinned.

"Thanks, stage 1 Dusker girl." She said with a wink. Erica sighed as she looked nervously at the flirtatious Benny.

"All you have to do is show the goodness in his heart. Just until Ethan and Benny come back. You should be able to do it." Jane said proudly. Erica sighed as she walked up to Benny and smiled flirtatiously.

"Hi, babe." She said huskily, leaning against the tree sexily, as if she was flirting with the other The arrogant Benny winked.

"Hello sweetness." He said with a wide smile. Erica closed her eyes, as if she was trying to contain her patience. Sarah thought back to when Evil Benny was creating, and realized that there wasn't much of a difference between the two...

"I am sure there is some good in your heart, _right?_ " Erica pressed, getting straight to the point. The hologram Benny frowned, popping his collar.

"Good?" He scoffed. "Nah, sexy one. I am pure evil. Who needs love when you have this body?" The Princely Benny shook his hips, and Erica nearly face palmed. It was obvious Della was making this harder than it had to be...

"Fine. I am sure that I can change that. I do have a thing for..." She gulped. _"good guys"_ The arrogant Benny's eyes lit up.

"A pretty gal like you...into good guys?" He laughed. "Yeah right. I'll believe it when I see it."

Erica growled; this was harder than she thought. In the corner of her eye, she saw Ethan and Benny, who were just coming back with a shadow filled jar, and she saw as they shook it happily. Erica then pulled Ethan's collar, smiling as Ethan yelped. Benny frowned, trying not to make eye contact with the other version of him, and stared in shock at Erica and a nervous looking Ethan.

"Ethan?" Erica asked sweetly. "What would you do if a kid's ice cream fell onto the ground?" Ethan shrugged.

"I dunno...buy them a new one?" He said. Arrogant Benny scoffed.

"What a goody-two shoes." He grumbled. Erica smiled.

"Perfect." Erica said with a smile.

And before anyone could say anything, Erica pulled Ethan to her lips and placed a long, passionate kiss onto his mouth. Ethan's eyes were wide open, but when Erica's eyes drifted to an angry looking Benny, who was unscrewing the jar, Ethan understood this must've been part of the plan, and he kissed her back.

"What the fuck?!" Benny yelled, throwing the shadow towards the arrogant Benny, and he cultivated in his spot.

Erica and Ethan pulled back, as the once arrogant Benny looked at all of the teens - and Stephanie, of course.

"Why, good day. I don't exactly know why I'm here, but I do need to go and find my princess." He smiled at all of them.

"Thank you...for whatever you did." He added with a wink, and grabbed his horse, galloping away. Everyone stared at the Benny that just went away, and then to the real Benny, who was practically fuming.

"What the hell just happened?" Stephanie murmured. Benny nearly lunged at Erica.

"Why the hell did you kiss him?!" Benny yelled. Erica tried to explain, but Benny just kept on screaming. Ethan then got into the fight, and everyone just started to argue loudly. Jane, Sarah and Stephanie tried to stop them, and then Benny just decided the best thing to do was to slap Ethan.

Silence filled the forest as Ethan stumbled back, grabbing onto his cheek as he felt a red hot pain emerge in them. Sarah, keeping her patience, helped Ethan, and Benny just stormed off in the other direction, taking the dagger from Jane and plunging it into the force field that separated the forest and some giant wall, that looked familiar to the fairytale 'Mulan'...

"Benny," Erica murmured, as Benny disappeared, running through the broken force field and to his boyfriend, all her friends trailed behind her.

* * *

 **A/N- Sorry for crappy chapter; school was rough today, and it's Monday; I deserve this.**

 **This is probably gonna be the only story you'll see updated today. Sorry. But I hope I served it justice...**

 **Anyway, drop a review, and thanks for dealing with this :P**

 _ **Keep On Keeping On**_


	4. True To Their Heart

**A/N- Okay, okay, please hold your tomatoes.**

 **Wassup, I am TOBN, and you are actually reading the very real Chapter 4 of The Search For Happily Ever After, which, yes, I will start updating a lot more often now, I promise. It will actually be continuing.**

 **Seriously though, I am so sorry that I haven't updated this for a while. It's not like I've been planning or anything - the whole layout for this story is scribbled onto the pages of my broke down notebook - it's just I found absolutely no motivation to do this story whatsoever. I am so sorry, but I just felt like I didn't want to update this story, and I promise, I am learning to be happy with what I wrote, because deep down inside, I know it's going to work.**

 **It's kind of like 'What If', remember? I had no motivation to do that story whatsoever, but I pulled through and ended up making a story that a lot of people actually really liked, and I know if I can pull through that story, I can definitely become more motivated to continue this one.**

 **You are going to have to help me though, my friends. Even if I have that motivation, I need yours too. So thanks, if you think I can do it. Thanks a bunch (today's been an emotional day for me :P) and I love you forever *Dan's signature hand heart***

 **Shoutouts to...**

 **Willowleaf- I am going to assume that means that you liked it, or found it offensive in some way - in that case, I am very sorry - but I am going to assume that you actually really liked it, and I guess if that's the case, thanks a lot! Anyway, thanks for your review ;)**

 **MBAV fan66- Oh you are definitely right. Things are gonna get super awkward now, my friend, and the drama just escalates from here. Jokes! Anyway, I would love to watch that movie, my friend. I would pay to watch that. If Atticus is not the next Prince Phillip, I'll get pretty mad. Jokes! Anyway, thanks for the review, fanfic buddy!**

 **So Mulan! Shall we do this? Drop a review, and...  
**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 4: True To Their Heart

* * *

"I don't know why he would get so mad," Ethan mumbled, walking down what seemed to be the Great Wall Of China and looking at Erica, whose hands were behind her back lazily. She smiled sadly.

"Benny always had a thing with me and other guys." She sighed. "I promised him that he was my one and only, and he knows what a... _flirter_ I am, so I guess he got mad, and the stress of this wasn't helping. It's not your fault, Ethan."

Ethan nodded, but said nothing as he just walked on with Sarah, Rory, Jane and Stephanie. Erica trailed behind them, but she caught a glimpse of Benny with some girl with long, brown hair wrapped in a messy bun, and tan skin. She knew that she was in the fairytale 'Mulan', but that honestly looked nothing like that hero from the Disney movie she knew.

"Hey, guys, is that Benny?" She asked, and everyone faced the two arguing people.

It turns out that Benny was talking animatedly to a girl that was actually _Sarah,_ wearing a kimono and had her hair intersected with what seemed to be dragon pins in her hair as well. The hologram Sarah turned around, crying as Benny stormed away towards the gang. He avoided eye contact with Ethan and Erica, but continued on anyway.

"So apparently, Mulan's shadow has disappeared, leaving her defenceless and scared, unlike her loyal and heroic personality presented in the fairytale she is entitled to. I guess the only way to get her to become herself again is to just convince her to while someone tries to find her shadow."

Ethan nodded, and Sarah, Rory, Stephanie, Jane and Erica already start to go, leaving Ethan and Benny alone. Ethan's eyes widened, knowing what they were trying to do as Benny looked at them accusingly, his eyes widening significantly as well.

"Where do you guys think you're going?" He asked, hissing. Erica smirked, trying to forget all about what had happened in the forest as she just winked at her emerald eyed boyfriend, giving the two boys a suggestive shrug.

"We are going to find the shadow. You guys are going to convince Mulan/Sarah that _crossdressing for a good reason is definitely not anything to be afraid of._ "

The two boys exchanged looks, and Sarah just giggled, leading everyone away as Ethan and Benny were left alone to try and convince the Mulan version of Sarah the same thing that Erica had said to them a few minutes ago.

Ethan and Benny just sat there in silence for a while, both trying to decipher what Erica had told them, when Ethan looked at Benny, then a frightened Mulan that was looking over the Great Wall, frowning and humming to herself. Ethan snapped his fingers.

" _Cheerleading._ " Ethan suddenly said, and for the first time in a while, Benny smiled.

"You're right. We both turned ourselves into girls for the sake of saving the cheerleaders. All we need to do is convince Sarah that it was a lot of fun, and that it was a worthy cause, and maybe she'd get over her fear, in time for everyone to get the shadow back into Mulan and get her back to normal!"

Ethan nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly what I was thinking!"

The two boys looked at each other awkwardly, and Benny caught a glimpse of a bright red mark on Ethan's cheek, where he had slapped him a few hours ago.

To be honest, Benny felt terrible about what he had did to him _and_ Erica earlier; it was definitely uncalled for, and the least he could've done was ask them calmly what was going on. Of course, being the stupid person he was, he didn't, and he added more stress than he already had intended for. It was rude, and it was probably annoying too - his drama and what not.

But Benny preferred not to say anything else as the two boy silently towards Sarah, who immediately stepped back, probably away from Benny.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Are you ready to try and convince me to do something absolutely petrifying...again?"

Ethan looked accusingly at Benny, who just shook his head. "I promise you, Sarah..." He paused. "Or...Mulan...or whatever your name actually is, that things would be so much better if you took a risk and be true to your heart - you can actually help end this war. You just have to find a motivation."

The Hologram Sarah scoffed. "Yeah, okay. What is more ridiculous than going out, dressed up as a guy, and fighting out there? If I get caught, I could be killed, boys. I could get penalized to years in prison, or even death. I could die out there as well. It's not worth it. It's not worth it."

She rambles, and Ethan desperately wants to get to the point. Benny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, honestly not knowing what else to say. Sarah/Mulan had certainly brought on a really good point, but he had to keep the story going on, before chaos actually rises. But how?

"You know, I honestly don't know why she even decided to actually do this kind of stuff if she knew the consequences." Benny remarked, and Ethan growled, punching him in the arm rather hard. Benny winced, smiled weakly, and Ethan had realized that Benny was trying to lighten things up - not only through the situation, but between the two boys themselves. Ethan honestly didn't know what to do.

"What's more ridiculous?" Ethan blurted. "We'll tell you what was more embarrassing. Crossdressing as girls to save cheerleaders." Benny looked at Ethan - that was definitely one way to move the conversation along - and Sarah looked at him, confused.

"What is a cheerleader?"

"It's...really hot." Benny answered, and Ethan rolled his eyes.

"They were all in danger if we didn't do anything, so this goofball decided to drag me about and dress up as girls to go undercover and investigate what was happening around there. It was really scary - if we got caught, are social lives would be in ruins."

"You don't look the type of guys who have a social life." Mulan smirked.

".. _.shut up_." Benny mumbled, and Ethan just laughed.

"We actually ended up saving their lives, y'know?" Benny said, and Sarah perked up. "They may have made fun of us after, but not as much as they would've if they actually turned out, well, dead, per say."

Sarah giggled, and Ethan smiled at that genuinely, reminding himself of the original Sarah, who wasn't as different as this one was. They both are trying to stay true to their heart, and trying to figure out who they actually wanted to be, without hurting those around them. They both wanted to save the world, but wanted to stay hidden for their own safety as well.

Like how Sarah was trying to hide her vampirism from humanity, Mulan was trying to hide who she was and how she could help for the safety of herself, and others. It was quite a resemblance, and Ethan loved them both.

"You can save people, Mulan." Ethan whispered, and Benny hugged Ethan suddenly.

"We saved people. It was funny." Benny mumbled in Ethan's shoulder, and he just nodded, smiling as he hugged Benny back. "We're funny - even when we are fighting and when we are acting the same way we did when we were six, and my mom had taken away our old lightsabers."

"Why do we act this way?"

"I just don't know."

"Who cares?" Benny chuckles, and they laugh again, hugging each other before they were interrupted by the coughing of someone right behind them, and they turned around to see Sarah holding an empty jar, and Rory smiling as they watched the Sarah hologram run away. Erica smirked as Stephanie and Jane just smiled.

"You know, you guys hug for quite a while, and your revelations are certainly cheesy." Stephanie sneered, but genuinely smiled as Benny ran up to Erica and kissed her passionately, and Erica just smiled.

"No more drama, okay? I promised you this, and I promise to you again - only you, and nobody else." Benny hugged Erica tightly, and smiled.

"Of course."

Jane grinned, feeling as excited as she had ever been. They were going to go. They could defeat Della, and they'd get Rory back, trapping this whole fairytale chaos behind them into this book. "Okay! Let's get going, gang! We have a blonde vampire to save!"

Everyone cheered triumphantly, running across the Great Wall Of China to get to their next destination.

And as Benny looked down below them, he swore he saw a glimpse of Sarah/Mulan, riding her horse into battle, dressed as man, and ready to fight for the thing that motivated her, showing courage and bravery.

She smiled.

And Benny continued on.

* * *

 **A/N- Hope that makes up for everything. I actually enjoyed writing this!**

 **Drop a review, and thanks for reading!**

 _ **Keep On Keeping On**_


	5. Obedience Should Be A Sin

**A/N- IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! TOBN IS ACTUALLY UPDATING THIS STORY!**

 **Yeah, updates are still continuing. Let's all appreciate that this update comes a bit less than a month, so I think that is great for someone who is completely not motivated to do this story whatsoever :P**

 **I know you guys are probably thinking "you shouldn't write if you don't feel motivated to do so", but goddammit, I am motivated to do so - I am just procrastinating yet again :P**

 **I swear I am motivated to do this story, and want closure as much as you guys do, I just don't feel...inspired.**

 **I promise though, I am going to push through this series with a strong force, and bring this house down! I swear that this is going to be the chapter for 2015, and this story will finish by the end of January - I PROMISE! THAT IS MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION, AND IT WON'T BE BROKEN!  
**

 ***ahem* What happened last chapter? Benny, Ethan and Erica have made up, and they are to travel to a place that holds a person that is quite familiar to them, if you know what I mean! Yes, this character is making a comeback, and I am excited to see how this one** **goes :)**

 **Shoutouts to...**

 **MBAVFOREVER- Thank you! I am glad that you are sticking by me, even when the story is crap and needs to be updated more often :P Trust me, I know that too, but I promise, once this is done, I think it would be so worth it, don't you think? Anyway, thanks for the support :)**

 **MBAV fan66- "Who is that girl I see, standing straight, back at me - when will my reflection show who I -" *pauses* I should probably stop now before I break a window or something :P And thank you for all motivation - it is helping a lot, trust me when I say that :) So here we go! A damn Christmas miracle, don't you think? I hope you like this chapter, fanfic buddy :)**

 **I will try and make this as interesting as I can - I promise.**

 **Drop a review, and...  
**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 5: Obedience Should Be A Sin

* * *

They continued on, knowing they were getting a bit more closer to their destination.

"I think we should be reaching a town by now," Stephanie remarked, and Jane nodded.

"I think I see one." she added, and everyone looked ahead to see a tiny town, right after the great wall's barrier. They exchanged happy looks and stared to walk their way to the village, going through yet another force field with the help of their dagger, and talking to each other about their own stories.

"Why do you Della did it?" Sarah suddenly asked.

Everyone fell silent before Stephanie lowered her head. "It was me."

The teens faced the old women, who still wouldn't make eye contact with them, but still explained herself anyway.

"I never spent enough time with her. I was always trying to plan my revenge, and she felt neglected. While were fighting, she always said that it was like the Weir family was my own family, and that one day I would rot in my own darkness."

Stephanie sighed. "I actually might."

They walked in silence the rest of the way, before finally reaching the village.

The cobble stones were wet from what was probably rain as they felt their shoes squishing against it. The town was filled with busy people, running around and talking rapidly. Stores and shops were lined along the streets, but that wasn't the only thing that was highlighted to the gang.

A girl, wearing black, was jumping on the tents of the shops, stealing loaves of bread from bewildered townspeople, and literally stealing candy from children. She smirked, her hair - that was tucked in a slick, black ponytail - swished behind her.

"Who the hell is that?" Erica asked, and before anyone could answer, the ninja-like girl landed right in front of them.

"Who am I?" The girl hissed. "I am Ella."

The gang's eyes widened as they focused on the features of the girl - tan skin, black hair...

"It's _Hannah Price._ " Ethan stated in shock.

It was true; Hannah Price - aka Ella Enchanted - stood in front of them in a tight, black jumpsuit, looking like someone who just came out of a special mission for spies. Sarah looked at the smirking Hannah from head to toe.

"We have her shadow, don't we?" Jane whispered to Benny. "Didn't we catch it when Ethan was possessed by her shadow...?"

Benny nodded as he opened his satchel and took out the jar labelled "Ella Enchanted" with a Sharpie.

"This one will be easy." Erica smirked.

"Stay still, Ella." Ethan added, and as soon as Benny opened it, the shadow darted straight to Hannah.

A bewildered expression washed over the devious tanned girl, and she quickly dodged it, leaning back to let the soul fly over her stomach. The gang looked at each other in shock, as if the whole thing was happening in slow motion as the shadow made a U-Turn, in Erica's direction.

Unfortunately, Erica's reflexes weren't as great as Hannah's, because as soon as she saw it, she had no time to react, therefore the shadow going straight into her chest. Benny's eyes widened, shocked as he dropped the jar, watching as it shattered on the ground.

Erica's eyes flashed black and she fell forwards, falling onto the ground.

Benny immediately went to her side, leaning over her limp body, tapping her cheek repeatedly. "Erica? Erica, wake up."

As if on cue, Erica sat up, nearly knocking Benny down with her. She stood up, and everyone watched nervously as she looked around, rubbing her head with a confused frown written on her pale face. Stephanie frowned - she knew where this was going.

"Erica?" Ethan asked. "Are you alright?"

Erica's frown turned into a tight smile. "Of course I am okay? Why wouldn't I be? It is a beautiful day, after all"

Everyone exchanged looks at the vampire's sudden attitude change and soon after, Erica began to sing an 'enthusiastic' performance of Queen's 'Somebody to Love' at the top of her lungs, dancing all around the gang, including Hannah - who abruptly spat at the ground in annoyance.

"Are you peasants done?" scoffed Hannah. "I have places to go, _bitches."_

Ethan covered Jane's ears - who responded with a roll of the eyes - and Hannah ran away in a speedy glance.

"She disobeyed because she has no shadow that tells her to do so." Stephanie explained, knowing the question that was on everyone's eyes. "When Ethan asked Ella to 'stay still', she didn't listen -" She smirked - "or _obey,_ because she had no shadow that did so."

"So Hannah - aka Ella Enchanted - is kind of like...a badass, rebellious, disobedient ass?" Jane asked.

"Jane!" Ethan exclaimed, covering her mouth.

"You said the same thing about Stephanie," Jane retorted, and Ethan looked down embarrassingly at the ground when Stephanie glared at him with a look that could certainly have the power to kill somebody.

"While we try to do something," Stephanie interjected, "someone should probably go after her. Hannah, I mean."

"I'll go," Sarah volunteered, raising her hand awkwardly. "I feel like I can go for a run, to be honest."

"I will too." Benny squeaked. Everyone looked at him incredulously. "I need this more than anyone of you."

"Okay," Ethan agreed, "in the meanwhile we are going to try and get Erica back on her feet."

They turned to see Erica singing 'Somebody to Love' still, giving flowers to people and doing the things people unknowingly said for her to do. She was certainly making a scene in the tiny town, and they probably should stop it as soon as possible.

Benny and Sarah nodded, and they started sprinting down the town, trying to find Hannah.

"So what is the plan?" Benny huffed as they sped down a corner. "I am not doing this much physical activity for nothing."

Sarah shrugged. "You corner her, and since I have the strength, I'll knock her unconscious and drag her back."

Benny winced. "That sounds intense. And a little harsh, don't you think?"

"She is a bit rebellious after all, Benny."

"True."

"Look!" Sarah exclaimed, screeching to a spot, Benny nearly crashing into the tanned vampire. She pointed up, and Benny squinted to see a black suited girl jumping on the top of the tents of the shops down the marketplace.

Benny darted his glance to a fruit cart, silently smiled and dashed towards it with no warning. Sarah's eyes widened, but she followed after him as Benny grabbed a few oranges and apples from the cart, smirking. Sarah laughed.

"Hey!" The man screamed, and Benny ignored him as he jumped on top of the cart and flung himself to the tent covers as well.

Sarah looked impressed at Benny's athletic skills as he nimbly jumped on every single carp that hung over the shops to keep some much needed shade in the town shops. Sarah grabbed a few loaves of bread and ran alongside Benny on the ground.

Hannah turned around, and sneered when she saw Benny gaining on him. He nearly tripped clumsily, and this caused Hannah to let out a laugh, knowing she'd probably get away with what she was doing at the moment.

"Goddammit stop!" Benny yelled, and Hannah had the time to throw a knife towards Benny, who dodged it quickly.

"No!" Hannah screamed, smiling, and Benny nearly face palmed - he was saying this to the girl who was, at the moment, disobedient.

Benny arched his arm back to throw his first fruit at Hannah, who dodged it quickly, turning around and growled.

"You can't get me that fast." she growled, and Benny smirked as he saw what was ahead of them.

He threw and orange at her chest unsuspectingly, and Hannah yelped at the unexpected attack. The orange collided with her chest, and she was blown backwards at the force, and, since they had reached the end of the surface, fell off.

Sarah sped and caught her, knocking her out in an instant.

Benny swiftly went down as well, and Sarah offered a hi-five that he gladly accepted.

"Not bad, Benny. You've been practicing?"

"Video games do help you with form. I just do the rest." Benny winked, and Sarah rolled her eyes and sped towards where they had left Ethan, Jane, Stephanie, and, more importantly, their 'Ella possessed' friend, Erica.

When they arrived they saw Erica standing completely still, silently.

"What did you do?" Sarah asked, and Ethan frowned, eyebrows arched.

"Told her to stand still quietly so I can figure out what to do."

Sarah nodded as she flopped Hannah on the ground, dusting off her dress.

"I just don't know the spell to extracting a shadow, and even if I do, I don't think I'd do it properly." Benny said, and everyone turned to look at Stephanie, who scoffed and abruptly said "Well, don't look at me."

"Why don't we just tell her to give the shadow back? She'd obey, right?" Jane prompted.

Benny smirked. "Magic doesn't work that way, Jane -"

"Erica...er...Ella, give the shadow to Hannah, won't you?" Jane interrupted, and Erica perked up, and a shadow flowed out of her body in what swift action and went into Hannah, who disappeared in a flash of white, and reappeared in a traditional dress.

Erica blinked. "What the hell happened to me?"

Jane just smirked at a bewildered Benny as Hannah quickly went all 'Ella mode' on them and began to speak rapidly.

"I guess I just got a bit jumpy, huh?" Hannah bubbled. "Sorry 'bout that!"

Erica rolled her eyes. "Just go away, dammit."

And with that, Hannah obeyed and wandered off, leaving the gang to laugh and go on their way into the forest, where red eyes peeked out of bushes, hungry for violence, and thirsty for a spark of evil and fun.

They turned on their heels, and marched off, their little hats following them. Seven of them.

* * *

"They're catching up," Rory teased from inside the crystal prison. Della, who sat in some sort of spinning chair, turned to face the small Rory, who sat there, clearly frustrated. Della looked at her nails boringly, smirking a little.

"They won't." she hissed, looking at the seven tiny creatures, whose eyes were read. "It took a while for them to get one soul - imagine getting _seven of them?_ "

She cackled, and all Rory could do is just watch in horror.

* * *

 **A/N- I hope that was at least a 5/10 stars. I promise the next chapter will be more interesting - I'm more excited for that.**

 **Drop a review, and I will see you soon :)**

 ** _Keep On Keeping On_**


	6. Snow White And The Tall Hat Rebellion

**A/N- Wassup? It be TOBN here with a new chapter of The Search For Happily Ever After!**

 **Yup! This is it. This is the time where I promise you that this story will be finished by the first week of March, and that is a definite promise. I have had a lot of thinking, and re-writing the plot a little (hence this not-so-little delay), but now that I am done, I think you are going to enjoy the next four chapters very much, if I do say so myself.**

 **I will tell you this though; this is the last fairytale they need to cross. Does that intrigue you at all? I sure hope it does, because the chapters are only getting more intense from here, my friends! I will deliver, that's for sure ;)**

 **Shoutouts to...**

 **MBAVFOREVER- Well I'm glad you like the pairings :) I don't really mind any pairings (aside from the absurd ones, like Evelyn/Jesse or something. 'Cuz that's weird. As well as Ross/Evelyn. I saw a fanfic about that once, and that was not pretty whatsoever), I just care about the quality of work that is being presented ;) Anyway, thanks for your review, and I am glad you love the story :)**

 **MBAV fan66- Right you are, fanfic buddy! I actually have a funny plot with the tallest boy in the group (as far as I know), so I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it ;) Anyway, thanks for your review, fanfic buddy, and I hope you find the chapter entertaining! Because that is what my goal is; entertainment (and probably being a huge procrastinator - NO ENTERTAINMENT.)**

 **I'll cut the A/N short for your convenience (because who would want to hear someone ramble the whole time?)**

 **ENJOY!**

 **P.S- Forgive me with the lack of knowledge I know about the seven dwarfs.**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 6: Snow White And The Tall Hat Rebellion

* * *

"How much farther?" Benny moaned. "We've been walking for ages, and I haven't seen one pizza tree or something. You'd think that in a magical realm, they won't grow their food and sweets out of the ground or something."

"I hate complaining, but you're right, babe." Erica grumbled. "The least Della could've done was send us to Hansel and Gretel or something, instead of frickin' Mulan."

Ethan bit his lip from laughing, and Jane just elbowed both of them.

"Shut it with your complaining, you two. We have to hurry if we want to get to the end at all. Besides, we don't really want Rory to be waiting, do we?"

Those were the first words Jane had said in a long while. And Ethan was frankly quite surprised at how serious they are.

"Jane, I know things are tough, you just need to stop with your snappy attitude. It's not helping any of us." he scolded, stopping to look at his sister.

Jane opened her mouth to say something back, but she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Whatever," she muttered, and she sped ahead.

They reached the heart of the forest, cutting through yet another force field - "I'm surprised that out of everything in this place that got destroyed, the force field didn't burn down. That would've be convenient." Sarah said in annoyance - and Stephanie through her hands up in the air.

"Where the hell are we now?" she growled, facing Benny and pointing at him accusingly. "Did you take a wrong turn or something?"

"You tell me," Benny ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. "since you are the one leading us."

Erica bit her lip, raising her eyebrows. "Gotcha there."

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit stressed." Stephanie hissed sarcastically, but was overtaken by the truth, and it started to sound like she was being serious. Benny nodded in satisfaction, whispering a spell under his breath and watching as some sort of map appeared in the air, surrounded by blue dust that sparkled. He analyzed it for a minute, before nodding.

"Alright, we're apparently in what this place calls 'Seven Hats Forest'. This is the forest before the place where Della is."

"And Rory." Sarah added, and everyone just remained silent the rest of the time.

"So where do we go now?" Ethan asked, breaking the ice. They stop, and see that they are surrounded by a forest, and Jane swore she saw a glimpse of a red roof hidden amongst the trees.

Stephanie crossed her arms, huffing. "I think we're supposed to go left?" she mumbled sarcastically, and Erica elbowed her.

"I think we are supposed to go in that direction."

Erica pointed up, and everyone watched a black cloud, crackling thunder and echoing in taunting cackles. A beam of light shone through it, and a wobbling beanstalk sprouted from beneath it.

"Just like we saw when we were on the hill." Jane mumbled.

"Guys, my back is kind of itchy." Benny suddenly blurted out, and Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Stop complaining, Weir."

"No seriously," Benny scratched his back. "it's like a bunch of things are going up my shirt, and I know for a fact it's not Erica."

Erica blushed, before Benny's eyes widened.

"What the -"

He collapsed forwards.

"Benny, what the hell?" Ethan grumbled, and then they saw it.

Three men, with pointy hats and red eyes, popped out of Benny's shirt with a needle in their tiny hands.

"Who the hell are you?!" Erica shrieked, throwing them off Benny's back.

The three of them launched right back, saying nothing as they sent slaps to Erica's face. She screamed, thrashing her head all over the place to get them to fly off. The three of them exchanged smirks, and snapped their fingers.

They, along with Benny, disappeared.

"What the hell just happened, and where the fuck is Benny?" Sarah looked around in disbelief and added, "Did those dwarfs just teleport?"

"The seven dwarfs!" Ethan exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey!"

"We're in Seven Hats Forest, this must be Snow White's fairytale, and those three dwarves were probably three of the dwarves from the fairytale!"

"And they are probably shadow-less, so they kidnapped Benny instead of helping him." Erica finished.

"Makes sense," Jane mumbled, "because clearly none of them are dopey, sleepy, or sneezy. Just...grumpy, to be honest."

"Okay we now that we established that," Stephanie said, "how are we going to capture seven shadows?"

"With a lot of help." Jane grinned. "Do you think we can find Snow White?"

* * *

"And why would you need _my_ help?"

The gang searched for a while, but eventually they found shadow-less Snow White - who was actually a hologram of none other than Sunday Clovers; Erica was thrilled when she saw her - in the forest, carving knives out of sharp branches; she was definitely not the girl they knew before.

"Look Sunday - um, I mean, _Snow_ ," Ethan promptly corrected himself, "there are a bunch of maniac dwarfs who have our friend. We'd very much like him back."

Stephanie snorted. "Well, _some_ of us would benefit to that more than others."

She glanced at Erica. Erica hissed, but didn't say anything else about it.

"We need your help, Snow." Sarah interjected, before Erica would make it worse.

"And why should _I_ care?" Sunday looked at her knife, staring it in the eye - she was definitely not the Snow White they remembered. "He's not my friend."

"I'm fucking tired of hearing that!" Erica's fangs popped out, and she grabbed Sunday's knife out of her hand. She pushed her to a tree, hissing, and pressing the sharpened knife to her chest.

"Well he is now, right?"

Sunday gulped, but tried not to show her fear.

"Whatever," she hissed, her accent clearly distinguished. "I'll help you with your assassin dwarfs or whatever your problem is. Just get off me, freak!"

Erica pulled back, wiping hair out of her face. "That's what I thought."

* * *

When Benny came to, he nearly bumped his head on a wooden surface. He grunted, trying to rub his head, when he realized he couldn't; his legs and hands were both bounded together with multiple ropes.

His eyes widened, and that's when he realized he was bound to a wall, all the tiny furniture pushed to one side of the house. His hair was touching the ceiling, and he was literally folded up like paper. His glance wavered to what seemed to be seven tiny men, with big hats. The thought came to him quickly - were they the dwarves from Snow White?

"God, the guy is huge." One said, and the one wearing a purple hat nodded.

"Yeah, he must've been a giant who was trying to assassinate us." he grumbled.

 _'Me trying to assassinate you?'_ Benny thought bitterly. _'My friends and I are actually trying to save your tiny asses.'_

"His ass is humongous." Another grumbled. Benny swore he heard "faggots" from one of them.

"He probably used all out supply of rope with his gigantic hands."

"Hey, we don't make fun of deformity." A dwarf snickered, and everyone laughed.

"I'm not deformed, _you drunk elves!_ " Benny grumbled, and all seven of them looked at him, their eyes red.

The one with the golden hat - most likely the leader - came up with something silver in his hand.

"We're _dwarfs_ , idiot."

Benny winced when it connected with his skin, but he realized it barely made a mark.

"Your knives can barely give me paper cuts." Benny announced proudly, feeling arrogant.

The dwarf in the green hat - Dopey, he assumed. Or at least, was Dopey - smirked, crossing his tiny arms.

"So you're saying we can't kill you with deep paper cuts?"

Benny cringed at the thought, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Does little boy not like paper cuts?" One mocked.

"I hate paper cuts." Another said to them, "Lay off."

"Be quiet, Grumpy." Benny assumed the one showing him mercy was Grumpy, and since he had no shadow, he was nicer. Benny found it ironic.

"How about between the fingers, giant freak?" Somebody blurted out, spreading their fingers out.

"Evil!" Benny gritted out, trying to wipe the cringe-worthy thought. "You fucking dwarfs are evil!"

"So why ya here, shortie?" The leader said - Benny forgot which one of them was considered leader in the movie, or at least, which one of them had the most lines.

"He's pretty tall, man."

"I'm saying 'shortie' to be intimidating, dammit."

"It's not intimidating, it's you be stupid."

" _Shut up, Sleepy_ \- why don't ya sleep with a lady dwarf, fucking slut."

 _"I hate sleeping!_ " Benny snickered at the irony and the fact that all of them seemed to have forget about him.

"Y'all are worse than the drunks at my place." he said lowly, but one of them heard, and gave him a stink eye.

"Why?" They asked. "What are they like in your world?"

Benny laughed. "I remember this one guy who was so drunk, he pulled down my pants on the street, and Ethan - my friend - took a photo."

The leader dwarf laughed. "That's the best kind of friend, giant boy."

Benny smiled. "I know."

"Tell me you got a photo!" A dwarf cackled.

"Yeah, I do. Grab my bag and pull out my phone."

The dwarfs did as instructed, and pulled out his phone, which was huge to them.

"Holy shit this must be a TV." A dwarf murmured in shock.

"Slide the screen and type in '6439'. Go to photos, and you can scroll through each one."

They did, looking star-struck at each one, and finally saw the one with Benny with his pants down. All of them - including Benny - had a laugh.

This continued more as Benny told stories about his friends, including Erica, and how they were fighting off Della.

"Let us join the fight!" They all roared. Well, everyone except for Grumpy, who had told everyone that "happiness was key"; though everyone shut him up quickly.

Hours seemed to pass, and the dwarfs were enjoying Benny's stay. Benny learned all their names, and the dwarfs even let Benny go so he could control the phone. He introduced them to YouTube, where they watched Markplier, Dan and Phil, and other funny YouTubers. They exchanged stories, and the dwarfs told Benny their plans on how they'd take down Della, and how they would be the ones to save the fairytale realm.

"If she is the one who put the whole realm to flames," Doc stated, pushing up his glasses. "then she's going down -"

"Let 'em go, bitches!"

Everyone turned around to see the Snow White - Sunday Clovers in Benny's eyes; just with a Snow White outfit - and his friends, holding seven jars.

"Who the hell are they?!" Happy - or not Happy right now - yelled.

"I don't know!" That was Bashful.

"Maybe they're bringing us cake!" Grumpy prompted.

Sleepy, Sneezy, and Doc prepared knives, and Benny's friends were about to release their shadows, when Benny screamed.

"Stop!"

Everyone paused, and Benny blushed, holding Doc up in his hands.

"They're friendly." He bit his lip, but Doc shrugged him off.

Everyone stared at Benny, who just sighed. "Just don't return their shadows just yet. I'll explain later; we have someone to save."

"Fighting is not the answer -"

"Okay, maybe give Grumpy his shadow back."

* * *

 **A/N- Seeya at the next chapter!**

 _ **Keep On Keeping On**_


	7. Battle To The Cloud Kingdom

**A/N-...shut up, okay?**

 **Wassup? It be TOBN here with [surprise, surprise] a new chapter of The Search For Happily Ever After!**

 **I am beating myself up for this one. Yet again, I missed a deadline, and this story will go on for eternities :P But I am not even going to promise you an update, because one, my condition, and two, I don't even give a rat's ass anymore. I'll finish this story on my own time :P**

 ***takes a breath* Okay, now that's over, so let's get on to this chapter!**

 **This chapter, they finally confront Della! Or at least, her castle. Excited? Things are just gonna get more intense from here. I'm proud to say that I am actually excited on how this is going to turn out :) Sadly, this is a less eventful chapter, but the next chapter will probably have you more intrigued...? Let's see ;)**

 **Shoutouts to...**

 **MBAV fan66- I know! Opposite dwarves were hard, but I managed** **anyway. And yes! Snow the assassin, and her seven killer dwarves. I think this is going to be interesting. Or, at least, I hope you find it interesting! Anyway, thanks for your review as always, fanfic buddy ;)**

 **Anyway, drop a review, and make sure you...**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 7: Battle to the Cloud Kingdom

* * *

"Here we are," Ethan said, looking at the huge cloud kingdom above them. "the Cloud Kingdom."

Ethan, Sarah, Benny, Erica, Jane, Stephanie, Snow and the Seven Dwarves looked at the gigantic cloud kingdom. It had three towers, all made out of a solid, cloud-like material. But the cloud was darkened, like a storm cloud, and looked nothing at all like a sunny cloud. As if on cue, thunder and lightening struck, and the gang jumped back a bit.

"This was your house?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

Stephanie shrugged. "I mean, I like to think the architecture was something to be proud of."

Stephanie stepped forward, saying a spell and watching as a cloud staircase descended to her feet. She smiled, and she turned to face everyone.

"This is where I controlled everything that happened in the fairytale realm. Of course, I had other control stations, if you will, around the place, which explains why you may have seen or battled me in one of those places. But here is where all the true magic happens."

"You know, Stephanie, if you didn't decide to become a magical psychotic fairytale kidnapper," Benny smirked. "you would've made a theme park better than Disneyland."

Benny chuckled, and Erica just rolled her eyes. Stephanie shot him a glare, which quieted him significantly.

"Do we just...go in?" Snow, aka Sunday Clovers, asked. Her mean and tough demeanor came back when she added, "Y'know, I want to be able to kick some people's asses, if you know what I mean, and we need the proper plan to do so."

"We should make a plan, yes." Ethan said. "Just so we don't look like a bunch of rats trying to get cheese."

"That was the worst metaphor ever."

"Shut up, Jane."

Jane smirked, and as all of them made a plan - to which the dwarves were very excited about - Jane pulled Benny's arm a bit. He looked down at her.

"What is it?"

"Can I borrow you for a minute?"

Benny looked a bit confused, but nodded anyway.

They went a few meters away from the gang, and Benny looked at Jane suspiciously.

"Why are you taking me so far?" Benny whispered. "If you're a serial killer, I knew it, you always held grudges against me when I beat your brother at Mario Kart. Wait...did Ethan tell you to do this to me? If so, I knew your family was crazy -"

"Shut up, Benny, I need to talk to you about the Crystal Heart." Jane said quietly.

Benny's eyes widened. "What else about the Crystal Heart? It's unbreakable."

"Not unless we say a spell." Jane said.

Benny was shocked. "What do you know about a spell?"

"Your grandma told me the spell."

"Why did she tell you?" Benny almost yelled. "I am more of an experienced spellmaster. I think I should've been the one to cast it if anything -"

"Shhh!" Jane hissed. "I have to do the spell because I have a younger source of magic. It requires the sacrifice of young magic."

"Sacrifice?" Benny said. "Are you...sacrificing your magic?"

Jane sighed. "You can't tell Ethan."

"Jane, sacrificing your magic is really dangerous and harmful. Trust me when I say it'll hurt. And you are too young to do that; you might...die."

Jane bit her lip. "All I ask is for you to back me up. If I break the Crystal Heart forever, Della can't use its magic against us, and we'll have Rory back. And then we can finally kill her with the one thing that has been helping us this whole time."

Jane pulled out the dagger. Benny closed his eyes, taking a breath.

"So you're basically going against the plan with your own? Jane, don't you think that's a bit risky?"

"I'm not going to die, Benny." Jane snapped. "I planned it, I talked to your grandma, and she told me what to do. I just need you to back me up when the time comes. And I need you not to tell Ethan. Can you do that for me?"

"Why don't you want Ethan to know?"

"Because he'd worry and say no!" Jane hissed quietly. "I need to do this, or Della will overpower us."

Benny sighed. "Okay. I promise."

"C'mon guys!" Ethan called out. Jane and Benny turned around, and they were already halfway up the stairs.

"Stop chattering and come on!"

Jane and Benny exchanged looks, and sighed, nodding as they followed them up.

* * *

"Wow, this place is huge," Erica said in awe, looking around.

"Yeah, if you thought that the outside was amazing, you thought wrong," Stephanie said with a proud smile. "because I blew a _huge_ budget on what the inside was going to look like. I actually went full on decorating mode."

She was right. The whole surrounding was a firm, but soft, cloud. The windows showed the dark sky around it, and there was a huge chandelier on the ceiling. But the light blue clouds were stained in patches of black burns.

"Looks like Della was having some fun here, don't you think?" Benny chuckled. A dwarf - who was Grumpy with his actual shadow back - punched Benny's leg in annoyance. Benny winced, and huffed, looking down at the smirking dwarf, who was hi-fiving his friends.

"Grumpy, I was the one who gave you your shadow, and I can very much take it back!" he said, and Grumpy's smile faded.

Suddenly, the floor rumbled. The whole gang tried to regain balance - Benny didn't have much luck; he tumbled on top of Erica, who just blushed, before pushing him off - and watched as the cloudy doors opened to reveal a huge creature.

Its eyes were pitch black, and its body was made of storm clouds. Ethan could see the bits of electricity bouncing off it, and thunder coming out of his hands.

 _Welcome, mother. Friends. You guys are finally here._

Della's voice echoed the cloud kingdom. Benny squinted to see some sort of silver collar on the monster as Della's voice continued to speak.

 _So you guys came to defeat me? Pathetic. I have your friend. I have the Crystal Heart, which is unbreakable, and even if it wasn't, none of you know how to break it_

Jane and Benny exchanged nervous looks; was Evelyn telling the truth about the spell?

 _Well, I have plans. You can deal with marshmallow man here. Have fun!_

Ethan hated the innocent tone to her voice; he swore he could hear the screams of Rory through the hidden speakers

The monster roared, snapping Ethan out of his thoughts. It blasted a thunder bolt their way, splitting the group in half. The floor burned through the cloud, leaving a crack in the wall. Sarah quickly peered down to see the thunder reaching the fairytale realm, and everyone screaming. Her eyes widened as one of the dwarves - Dopey, she thinks - fell through the crack, and vanished in the mist.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that, Mr. Fluffy," Doc growled, and he pulled out his mini pick axe. The monster growled again, firing another thunder bolt. Doc dodged it, and lunged towards the monster, dragging the pick axe across its skin. It roared, and tried to shrug him off.

Doc smirked as the rest of the dwarves that were left pounced on the monster, digging through its cloudy flesh.

The monster spit out shadows, and shaped them into warriors of darkness; knights, mini trolls, and dark horses.

"C'mon!" Ethan yelled annoyingly. "I left my sword all the way at Rapunzel's frickin' tower!"

Jane looked at the open doors behind the monster. She looked towards Benny, who just nodded.

Sarah swung a punch at one of the shadow monsters, and she just went straight through them. The shadow knight looked as if it were smirking, and branched out its arms, surrounding Sarah, who screamed in terror. The shadows were pulling at her clothes, determined to tear her apart.

Stephanie screamed a spell, and the shadow broke apart.

Sarah collapsed to the ground, and she grasped for a breath. She looked up at Stephanie, and mumbled her gratitude, tiredly smiling at the old wizard. Stephanie said nothing - she just smirked and went on her way to killing more shadow monsters.

Erica saw a row of bow staffs lined up on the walls, and she sped towards them, grabbing two. Snow White looked at Erica with a mischievous smirk. Erica rolled her eyes, and tossed her one, and Snow twirled it around her fingers.

"I could work with this," Sunday's accent came through, and Snow just sliced through the shadows with her bow staff. The troll growled, and split into two. Erica and Snow exchanged looks, and they each took on one troll. They ended up both slicing the trolls' heads off, which they were very proud of.

Ethan rolled under one of the shadow monsters and faced the huge cloud one. He watched as the dwarves were slowly tearing him apart, but one by one, were falling off due to the struggle.

Just then, he saw Jane and Benny sneak past the monster and into the open doors. He signalled Erica, Sarah, and Stephanie, and they looked at the monster.

Snow seemed to see what they were looking at, and sighed.

"You guys go catch up with them!" Snow yelled, stabbing yet another shadow monster. "We'll defeat Mr. Marshmallow over here!"

Ethan smiled and nodded. "Thank you!"

The four of them ran up to Jane and Benny, who was already in the corridor.

"What the hell, guys, why did you go?" Ethan said, trying not to let his anger rise. "Especially you, Benny; you are supposed to be keeping my sister safe, not lead her straight into the arms of danger!"

"I'm not a kid anymore, Ethan." Jane growled. "I can take care of myself."

"Mom and Dad want you back alive."

"They're not my mom or my dad, and you're not even my brother." Jane snapped. "You guys are my family by DNA, but not blood. I am a magical vessel of skin made from a wizard. I'm not even a human. So I have nothing to lose."

Jane stormed past all of them, dagger in hand. Benny looked apologetically at Ethan, and then went up to Jane, who was about to open the doors to Della.

"Is that the reason why you want to do this?" Benny whispered. "From one spellmaster to another, feeling worthless is not a reason to do something reckless."

"What choice do we have, Benny?" Jane said in frustration. "You heard me back there; I'm just a magic wand on legs. If I won't do anything, I'll still die. If I'm gonna die, it's gonna be for a nobel cause. I want to be remembered as a hero, not just some Disney character."

She pushed through the doors to be greeted with a white room. Della was in the middle, wearing a full, black, scaly jumpsuit, with a long tail of scaly fabric behind it. Beside her was the Crystal Heart, floating on the pedestal. Rory was in it, banging against the glass. When he saw Jane and Benny, along with his other friends trailing behind them, he grinned, mouthing 'I knew it!'.

"I see you are very willing, aren't you, Jane?" Della smirked. Jane tightened her grasp on the dagger, her mind racing at a high speed.

"Soon, I'll be telling generations a fairytale," Della walked around the room and rose her hand. The white room became dark, and shadows burst from the walls, surrounding the gang. Della smiled evilly as she held the Crystal Heart in her hands.

"The fairytale of the rise and fall of _Team V."_

* * *

 **A/N- I'm quite proud of this chapter; I will try again to update this week. If I don't, it's probably because my parents surprised me with some March Break trip that they have been secretly planning for weeks. Like as I am writing this, my dad just sent my sister and I upstairs for no reason. And earlier today, he said he was "hiding nothing", but we have to sleep early because my mom is taking us on a "regular trip" tomorrow. Yeah, I am not expecting anything, but if those two were planning anything, it would've slipped out by now.**

 **Anyway enough about my world. Drop a review, and I'll see you sooner than a month ;)**

 _ **Keep On Keeping On**_


	8. The Breaking of The Crystal Heart

**A/N- Wassup? It be TOBN here with a new chapter of The Search For Happily Ever After (aka, the 'once a month update' story)**

 **Admit it, I am sincerely trying now. Like, these chapters are literally going turtle pace, but hey, slow and steady wins the race, am I right? Well, that doesn't really work for stories, but you know what I mean. Right? Right :P  
**

 **Alright, so last chapter, we reach Della's kingdom, and we've revealed that Jane has plans of her own. Benny seems a bit hesitant, no? And I think you guys are going to be pretty mad at me when this chapter ends. I'll admit, I am excited for this one, since I really enjoyed writing it :P**

 **Shoutouts to...**

 **MBAV fan66- Yup! The battle is on! I really hope that you enjoy it as much as I love writing it, since I worked really hard on it, making sure everything plot wise is good. And how deep and meaningful, fanfic buddy. That is exactly what family is all about :P And may Dopey rest in peace :P Thanks for the review!**

 **So here we go! Are you ready? LET'S GET INTO IT (that's what she said...oh my god...I am sorry :P)**

 **Drop a review, and make sure you...**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 8: The Breaking of the Crystal Heart

* * *

Storm clouds surrounded the gang, and Jane plunged the blue dagger in them, digging a path for them to get out. Stephanie casted spells, and the clouds cleared, and when they did, Della was gone.

In replace was the Crystal Heart, floating in the middle of the room. When it sped closer, they realized that Della was inside the Crystal Heart, controlling it with a flick of her wrist. Beside her was Rory, who was lying unconscious in the corner of the crystal.

 _ **BE READY FOR YOUR ENDGAME, YOU FOOLISH SOULS!**_

The Crystal Heart began to stir around, before darting straight at the gang. A huge explosion surrounded them, and they all fell backwards, separated by shadows. They swirled around them, and the battle began.

Della's voice roared over winds. **_"YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE!"  
_**

Trolls and dragons formed shapes out of twisted shadows. Della's cackles were all that they could hear, as the gang struggled to get up.

Jane squinted, watching as Della and the Crystal Heart floated above the chandelier. Her eyes narrowed, and she bounced up, throwing her dagger against shadows. They split in half, and she slowly made her way to the Crystal Heart.

"Jane!" Ethan yelled, and he got up as well, before being surrounded by shadow monsters, blocking his view of his sister. He panted for breath, and looked around him to see what could be in use.

He found a sword on the wall, which he figured was part of decoration. He rolled under one of the troll's legs, and grabbed the sword off the wall with difficult, before yanking it off its stand, and waving wit wildly at the monsters. They screamed in agony as Ethan stabbed each one of them, and watching as his sword deepened into the sand-like skin, and saw as they dissolved almost instantly.

Stephanie was saying spells quickly, turning her energy into magic, and launching balls of fire towards her opponents.

 _ **"YOU CAN NEVER STOP ME, MOTHER!"**_ Della roared. _**"YOU'RE WEAK FOR JOINING THEM! YOU WERE ALWAYS WEAK!"**_

"You are the one who is weak, Della!" Stephanie yelled, not stopping as she destroyed more shadows. "You are the one who is weak, and you are the one who will suffer! I am your mother, and I am the only one who will reign over this land that _I created!"_

 _ **"LIKE YOU EVER CARED!"**_

Stephanie stopped for a moment, letting tears run down her wrinkled cheek. This whole battle was all her fault. She was the most irresponsible mother that there ever was, and she was the reason they were all fighting in the first place. Her daughter was right; she never cared. All she cared about was getting what she wanted; magic from the Morgans, power from her own magical creation, even revenge on innocent people.

She was a monster.

She was no different than any of them.

"Stop thinking and fight, Stephanie." Benny whispered in her ears, throwing a ball of energy at a shadow knight before it could ram into her side. "You can't let her get inside your head. You are a warrior, so act like one before she gets you off your game."

Stephanie looked at Benny as he went off to continue fighting; maybe Weirs weren't so bad after all.

"Rory!" Erica yelled as she sped up one of the cloud walls, bouncing off to grab the Crystal Heart.

Della tumbled inside the crystal, struggling to get out of Erica's grasp. The force was so strong, Della ended up pulling Erica in the air, spinning her around until she eventually flew off, tumbling onto the ground. She moaned in pain, and Della just laughed.

 _ **"YOU CALL YOURSELF A WARRIOR?!"**_ Della laughed bitterly, staring down at Erica. **_"PATHETIC!"_**

 _"Don't listen to her, Erica!"_

Erica looked up, wiping blood off her cheek, and saw that Rory was awake, and he was banging against the glass.

 _"FIGHT! YOU KNOW HOW TO!"_

Erica smiled, and nodded as she sped back up.

"Glad to see you back in the game." Benny whispered, and Erica smirked at her boyfriend.

"I was never out, if you know what I mean."

Benny rolled his eyes as he watched Erica speed to Sarah's side, handing her a bow staff and slicing against shadow monsters. They roared in agony, and dissolved into thin air, as if they were never there.

Jane was battling her own monsters, both physically and mentally, as she liked to think.

Her mind was racing as she neared the Crystal Heart. There were less and less monsters, but if she didn't do something quickly, they could all die. It could be the end for them, since fighting was clearly not going anywhere.

She looked at Benny, who seemed to know what was going to happen.

Was she going to do this? There was so much that she could live for. Even if she wasn't human, or even had a family, she _existed._ She was a living being, and she had a life. She had a family - even if they weren't blood-related - and she had friends. Was she ready to give all that up for a fragment of survival?

"Is there really any point?" she whispered.

She then looked at Ethan, who was desperately trying to fight off shadows before he made eye contact with her. There were tears down her eyes; she didn't even notice them until she felt them slide down her cheek. Ethan looked confused, but Jane knew what she had to do.

"Ethan!" she screamed, running towards him, dodging blasts of fire and shadows from the battle scene. Della continued to blast shadows at the gang, but stopped when she saw Ethan and Jane getting a bit closer. Her eyes narrowed; they were planning something, she knew it.

She blasted a shot of magic using the Crystal Heart's powers, firing it towards them. They were blown apart, and she cackled.

 _ **"IT'S TOO LATE, TEAM V!"**_ Della screamed. **_"YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN JUST A MYTH! JUST A FAIRYTALE!"_**

"Catch!" Jane yelled over the wind, throwing the blue handled dagger to Benny. His eyes widened, but he managed to grab the grip in his palm, slicing his finger slightly. He winced, but ignored it as he snuck around the back and began to creep behind the Crystal Heart.

Jane shot her first - and, surprisingly, probably her last - beam of magic at the Crystal Heart, startling Della as the crystal tumbled backwards in the air. It smashed against the door, breaking it momentarily, just like when they were battling the shadow monsters in Whitechapel.

Della and Rory fell out, though the artifact stayed in tact. Rory plopped on the ground, groaning as Sarah and Erica aided him.

Della wiped the blood off her forehead.

"You _bastard!_ " she yelled, using her magic to shoot a beam of lightning at Jane. A string of electricity grabbed Jane by the neck. Della dragged her closer, and Jane screamed in agony, fighting for air.

"Get your hands off my sister!" Ethan yelled, storming towards Stephanie. Benny couldn't be seen.

"Hey, _sister._ " Della muttered sarcastically. "Or we might as well have been sisters, considering we were both battling for place in mommy's heart."

Her voice went innocent as a rose, and she sounded like a psycho. Jane gritted her teeth, saving her oxygen as she desperately replayed the spell over and over in her hand, displaying every single possibility.

"You won, you know." Della growled as she tightened the lightning string's grip on Jane's neck. She paled, and Della cackled.

"I was a _loser!"_ Della screamed. " _And I hate losing!"  
_

Della grinned manically as she looked at Jane, head tilting to the side as Jane struggled to keep her eyes open.

"You're going to see what it feels like to be the dead child," Della grinned. "Except of feeling it like I did, you'll _know_ what it feels like. Because you aren't going to be able to feel anything after this is done. You're done, _Jane._ _You're a loser._ "

Jane smiled weakly.

"I-I-I'm a M...Morgan." Jane said with a smirk. "W-We...We _never_ lose."

Della loosened her grip, confused. Jane grinned; it was her chance.

"Aetate magica, reunatiate mihi ut irritum facerem incussa." ***** Jane muttered, and weakly brought her arm up and rose it towards the Crystal Heart. It trembled when the spell made contact, and Della looked at Jane with fury and fear as she dropped Jane, watching her gasp in breath.

"J-Jane..." Ethan stuttered, running to his younger sister as Jane leaned on his shoulder.

"E-E..." Jane managed to say, her energy dim.

"What did you do?" Ethan rubbed her forehead; it was ice cold. "What did you do, Jane, what did you do?"

"I-It's over." Jane stammered. "I-It's over. She's powerless."

As Rory, Sarah and Erica sped towards the gang, Stephanie smirked at Della, who was looking at the remaining pieces of the Crystal Heart.

The indestructible was broken.

"N-No..." Della said, falling to her knees as she held the pieces of broken Crystal Heart in her hands. "I-It can't be. It's not possible. I-It's supposed to be indestructible. Invincible. B-But now...now the only thing I-I have..."

"Is gone." Stephanie finished for her. "You don't toy with something for so long, Della. There's consequences. And it seems like you forgot an important one."

" _You bastards!"_ Della screamed, standing up with a sharp piece of glass in her hand. She marched towards Jane. _"You bastard!"_

She glared at Jane, as Ethan tried his best to separate them. Jane was leaning heavily on Ethan, her energy barely returning, since the spell drained her dry.

"You ruined _everything!_ " Della yelled. "You always do! This is your fault, I swear to -"

Her eyes widened, and she looked down at her chest.

Blood.

She turned around weakly to see that Benny held the blue dagger in his hand. Blood soaked the blade, and Stephanie's face didn't change. Though a tear ran down her face.

"M-Mother..." Della croaked. "Y-You can't let them do this. I-I...I-I'm your real daughter. I'm your blood, _you can't let them take me away!_ "

"And now our blood is spilled." Stephanie said, and everyone turned around to let her die.

Della landed on the floor, her knees against the broken shards. She looked at the longest, sharp piece of glass - that resembled a stake of some sorts - and using all her strength, stood up and grabbed the last person who was walking away.

Jane.

"I-If h-her daughter is g-going..." Della muttered as Jane's weak eyes widened. "Y-You are too."

She stabbed the glass unexpectedly at Jane's heart. Jane winced, screaming out in pain as Della twisted the dagger around, before pulling it back. A smile was painted on her face as she laughed and laughed and laughed. She laughed so hard that blood dribbled down her chin, and both spellmasters collapsed.

"JANE!" Ethan screamed, tears running down his face as his sister went on his knees, before collapsing in a heap beside the glass.

The gang ran back, and Sarah checked Della's pulse.

"Dead." she murmured.

Ethan rubbed the hair out of Jane's eyes, his tears running down and mixing with the blood on his hands.

"B-B-Blood..." Jane muttered.

"I know, Jane, I know, you're going to be fine, right?!" Ethan looked at Benny, who's head was bowed down. " _Right?!"_

"That spell took a lot, E..." Benny murmured softly. "She may not have enough energy to carry on...and it was in her heart..."

"They can't take you, Jane!" he screamed. "They can't take you away from me! From mom, from dad, from _us!"_

"B-Blood..." Jane, pale and dying, grabbed his hand and placed it on her heart.

"Y-You...b-blood...a-and h-heart..."

Jane blinked slowly before her eyes fluttered close.

"Y-You...m-my f...family."

* * *

 **A/N-** ***Magic of youth, bring me power to break the unbreakable (according to Google Translate.)**

 **Was it worth the wait? The next chapter will come out soon, along with the end of this story!**

 **With all my love; drop a review and enjoy your day!**

 _ **Keep On Keeping On**_


	9. I've Danced With You Once Upon A Dream

**A/N- Wassup? It be TOBN here with a new chapter of Search For Happily Ever After!  
**

 **This is it! The last chapter before the epilogue (which I can 88% promise that it will come out straight after this), and it will be an interesting one indeed! I hope it keeps you on your toes and what not ;)  
**

 **So last chapter! Last chapter, we had a bit of a...twist of events, I dare say. I can definitely promise you a happy ending; just not the one you guys were expecting.**

 **And I'll be honest, Jane dying wasn't really the ending I had in the beginning. In fact, it was supposed to be all hugs and kisses, with maybe a deep sleep here and a kiss there. But hey; wasn't this a lot better (for your heart, I mean :P)**

 **Anyway, enough with Miss. TOBN-Le Epic Troll; here are some shoutouts to you lovely readers!**

 **MBAVFOREVER- I can definitely assure** **you that Jane is in fact dead. I can definitely tell you that. It'd take a crazy miracle and a lotta spells to get that girl up, so it isn't worth it...or is it? But yes; Jane's dead :( But that's okay, since I promise you a happily ever after XD Thanks for reviewing!**

 **MBAV fan66- *hands you the tissues from all the other sad stories we wrote, then think if she can get sponsored by a tissue company or something* I know, fanfic buddy! *sniffles* I know! *grabs a tissue and blows into it* Jane is dead, but is probably in a better place (or will be soon ;D). Anyway, thanks for the review as always, fanfic buddy!**

 **And with that, I leave it to my amazing-totally not cliched story writing to wrap this story up!**

 **Leave a review, and...**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

The Search For Happily Ever After: Chapter 9: I've Danced With You Once Upon A Dream

* * *

 _The camera shook a bit as the young girl adjusted it. It was pretty bad quality, but she didn't mind; there wasn't that much time to care about it anyway. The recording blurred a bit, but it cleared, and showed the face of Jane Morgan._

 _"Hey, world. 'Specially you, fairytale folk." she chuckles to herself, her head leaning against the wood of a large oak tree. Fairies swirl around her, like small fairy lights, and she looks around at the swirling balls of light forming around her._

 _"It is god knows what day of the week, and I am in the magical forest of the Fairytale Realm." she explains, switching the camera's perspective to show the green willow trees of the forest, surrounding by small fairies. There were five people resting underneath the night sky, sleeping soundly. She giggled a bit, zooming in at her brother's sleeping face, with his chin dribbling of drool. She switched it back, and smiled softly._

 _"It's night and everyone's sleeping. I guess I'm awake because I know what's coming next, and it's too much of a scary thought for me to even close my eyes." She takes a breath, before adding, "Sleep is kind of hard in this place, anyway. Fucking night terrors."_

 _"We decided to take a pit stop before getting to the castle where Della is. I think it is good, since Benny looked like he was about to collapse." She laughs quietly, before she hears the stirs of the brown-haired spellmaster, and her laughs die down._

 _"Anyway, I am Jane Morgan. To make myself feel special, I'll give myself a name. A cool one."_

 _She bites her lip, as if pondering if this was a good idea, and then decides to say, "I'm the unborn prodigy."_

 _Jane smiles. "It feels good to say that."_

 _..._

"J-Jane..." Ethan scratchily whispered, his eyes filled with tears, and his cheeks flushed. His begging was interrupted by sobs from his friends, and himself. "You can't leave me, Jane, wake up, please! I can't go on without you...please!"

He shook her body frantically, searching for a sign that his sister was still alive. But he found nothing but empty eyes, and no heartbeat. Sarah rubbed his shoulder as a pale hand reached for his wrist. When he looked up, he saw familiar blue eyes.

"Rory." Ethan said hoarsely, getting up to give the blonde vampire a tight squeeze. Rory sniffled at the body on the ground, and slowly backed away from Ethan.

"I-I'm sorry, E." he sobbed loudly. "I-I'm sorry she's dead, it's all my fault -"

"Shut up, Rory." Benny interrupted. "We're glad you're safe."

He looked down at Jane, the crimson blood pooling around her drying slowly.

"If anything, I'm sorry."

He broke down there, and hugged Ethan tightly.

"I knew what she was going to do." Benny whispered. "I knew the whole time."

...

 _"If you are watching this, then my plan worked," Jane smiles. "So beat that, Mrs. Dawson; I do know how to solve problems."_

 _The jokes die down, and the purpose unravels in the phone-recorded video._

 _"But, I guess if you aren't watching this, Victory Jane," She tries her best not to break down as she continues. "then...then things didn't work out the way I wanted it to, and we got the bad ending. The bad victory we probably didn't deserve."_

 _She heaves a sigh before continuing._

 _"I'm dead if you are watching this."_

 _Jane bites her lip again, and she smiles a bit._

 _"It feels weird to be making one of these." Jane says quietly. "It feels weird to talk to people as if I was dead. It's hard. I don't know how people make wills and stuff. You're basically just accepting that one day, you're efforts will die out, along with yourself."_

 _Jane pauses, before adding, "It can also give you a big existential crisis."_

 _..._

"She was too young." Ethan moaned, dropping out of Benny's grasp and onto her knees. Benny had explained what Jane had said, and Ethan couldn't seem to understand why Jane would do such a thing.

"She was too young to even think about that. She was too young to accept death just like that -"

"She wasn't too young, Ethan." Erica pointed out sullenly. "Nobody is too young to accept it. She was brave to accept it. Fucking brave. Hell, I still can't wrap the fact around my head about me eventually dying, and I am immortal."

Sarah nodded. "She's right, E. Jane was braver than anyone I knew for accepting death. She knew it might happened, and it didn't seem to bother her at all. She was brave for even thinking about risking her life for ours."

"I could've stopped her." Ethan mumbled, cradling Jane's body in his hands, dried blood on his hand. "I could've been the one -"

"To die?" Rory finished for him, and Ethan remained silent.

...

 _"Man, death is such a heavy subject." Jane chuckles. "What can I say? I...I'm sorry."_

 _She wipes a tear from her eyes._

 _"I'm sorry it had to be this way. And if this is truly the last words I ever say, I guess I can just say that I'm sorry it ended up like this. I hate having to think they'll all come back to Whitechapel - my home - and tell my family that I-I'm gone."_

 _She cracks up. "I don't think I can handle this. I can't handle it."_

 _The perspective drops as Jane drops the phone on the ground for a while, still in her hand as the only thing that could be heard was the sobs of a young girl._

 _"Mom, dad, I love you. Even if you lied and cheated me my whole life, I love you. I know you'll probably not take my death that hard, since I wasn't even your child, but instead, a mistake, but I want you to know that I knew you loved me."_

 _Jane smiles cheekily. "Does that make me crazy? Man, our family is messed up."_

 _..._

Stephanie hasn't said much this whole time.

She was the only one standing, since everyone was on the ground, mourning and talking. Some were about what to do next. Some even looked at her when mentioning how to get back home. Some even talked about Jane - for God's sake, still? She's dead, there wasn't much to do about that.

But Stephanie knew there was.

As she looked at her daughter's corpse, she dropped to her knees beside her. Her aged skin touched Della's porcelain hands. Blood oozed from the wound, but have of Della's skin was ash and black like shadows; the magic she kept using must've been eating her inside. She remembered telling a fourteen year old Della to stay away from black magic, explaining that it could eat her mind and body in an instant.

Too bad she didn't listen.

"You are a disappointment, you know?" Stephanie whispered, loud enough for the conversation with the teens to end. They faced Stephanie, watching carefully as Stephanie raised Della's chin up to look at her lifeless face.

"I can't believe I am going to do this, but I think it would make me happy. Fucking happy."

"What are you doing, Stephanie?" Benny asked worryingly.

"You guys need to go after I do this." Stephanie said darkly, ignoring Benny's pleas for answers. "Leave me here forever."

...

 _"Benny, thanks in advance for doing what I am going to tell you tomorrow, probably." Jane says with a smile. "You were probably really useful. But if you aren't listening to this, I guess you totally flunked it. Usual."_

 _Jane actually laughs, and it almost wakes up Erica. She tries to stifle her dark laughs._

 _"Sarah, Erica, thanks for being the teachers I can tolerate and for being the sisters I never had. It's been so much fun; please take care of Benny and Ethan for me, because between you and I, we know how much trouble they'll get in."_

 _She looks down._

 _"And Rory? I hope you're okay. I love you so much. So much. You are and will always be the sunshine of my life."_

 _She then blushes, before adding, "Gaston? I know you were a dick and all, but I still found you cute. Too bad you will be my first and last love, major asshole."_

 _Biting her lip, she reluctantly adds, "Ethan, you already know how much I love you. I'd probably told you that."_

 _..._

She moved over to Jane, and everyone was quiet as they started backing up.

"What are you doing, Stephanie?" Benny asked again, more harshly. "Stephanie -"

"You're lucky, Ethan." Stephanie said, a glint of sadness in her eyes. "You are lucky you have her. You are lucky."

Stephanie looked down at Jane's corpse and smiled sadly.

"She reminds me of Della. She reminds me of a young, innocent, blonde girl who used to run around and catch butterflies and read fairytales. I created this world a long time ago to please her, but with her innocent childhood still corruption occurred, and it was grabbed away."

Stephanie stroked Jane's hair, crying.

"I was so stupid for bringing you here and taking once a beautiful and innocent world and twisting it to a wasteland that used to thrive with adventure and imagination." she laughed. "I am so stupid for constantly taking my rage and forcing it amongst you."

Stephanie looked at the gang, Jane's body in her hands, and smiled.

"Leave and never come back." she whispered. "But I ask you to write me a story. Write me a story of how this all ends."

"Stephanie -" Benny started off, but Stephanie just started saying words.

"Life span of an old soul," she whispered in Latin. "Give the life of a soul too young back to her, and, in return, I shall give you the soul of an aging woman whose time has finally come."

"Stephanie!" Benny screamed over the rising wind, and Stephanie roared.

"I'm sorry." was the last words they heard as the whole place was engulfed in light.

"Oh my god..." Ethan whispered.

Two corpses were gone, and it was replaced with white eyes and glowing blonde hair.

 _..._

 _"Stephanie, I know you have been through a lot. If it makes you feel better I forgive you. For everything. I think I need to say that before my corpse shrivels up in guilt and regret for not telling you that. You did what you had to do. I respect you for that."_

 _Jane looks down._

 _"That's it." she says, as her finger hovers on the stop button. "I hope you do well. Don't mourn for so long - I'm speaking to you, E."_

 _She smiles for the last time. "So long and goodnight."_

 _The recording stops abruptly, and black swallows the screen. The last thing heard is sobs._

 _..._

As they walk out of the kingdom with one less and one more person than they began with, Jane silently trails behind

* * *

 **A/N- Just so I don't have to have an author's note next chapter, I'll say all my final words now.**

 **Thank you for going on this tough journey. Sorry it took so long to reach the end, but it's finally here. The ending. The last chapter.**

 **I think this was a story that I am very proud of, even after it took so long. It was one of my first multi-chapters that wasn't a part of the Friends Series, and it turned out to be freaking magnificent. I am so proud of everything I did for this.**

 **Thank you guys, for supporting me. To anyone who read the Kingdom's End trilogy, I hope you enjoy the happy ending you all searched for.**

 **Thank you, and 'till the next fairytale,**

 _ **Keep On Keeping On**_


	10. A New Tale To Twist

_Now kids, I'll tell you the cold heart truth.  
_ _It may not be nice, but it's something you need to know._

 _It's that even if fairytales can be joyous and happy,  
Beneath that there's darkness, filled with empty souls. _

_Though I can't rhyme, and the words I speak,  
May seem like words spilled in clusters,_

 _I think you should know the tale of darkness  
And I promise to squeeze the joy I can muster. _

_..._

 _Once in a faraway land, there were six friends stuck in a fairytale.  
_ _It may seem like a dream, but trust me, it's dark without no fail._

 _There was a maid, beautiful of heart, portrayed by a vampire who was kind and caring.  
I bet you think you think you know the rest, but trust me when I say there's more for sharing. _

_A young boy, mischievous of mind, who decided it was okay to steal gold from a giant.  
_ _A tale that's been told millions of times, but he's missing a child; don't worry, he'll find it._

 _A girl, hood as red as blood, who was visiting her grandma, but alas got lost in the woods.  
Confronted by a wolf, she fled with the hunter, and took everything she possibly could. _

_A trapped maiden, hair like finest gold, who was stuck in a tower by her evil mother.  
_ _The story's been twisted for God knows how long, because the story begins with another._

 _A wealthy prince, searching for a bride, and he got too much in his dreams.  
But thanks to that maid he found love; she's back, so I hope you're pleased. _

_A fair man, curious of soul, stole a ruby ring, and played an evil part.  
But finding that girl, threaded with gold hair, placed the love in his heart. _

_You see? Things are turning up now, since everyone found each other.  
But trust me, the story's not done, because now I say another. _

_A witch, evil as darkness itself, who cursed the teens into a twisted fairytale.  
But she knew in her heart there was good; it was just small, weak and frail.  
_

 _She twisted them, conceived them; played them like pawns.  
'Till they thought they defeated her, but not for long. _

_For the story doesn't end, and a child unborn arrives.  
And origins are revealed, and with parents, twisted lies. _

_That maid I said?  
Her heart broke when her lover did.  
_

 _That mischievous young boy I mentioned?  
His trust in her, gone; tough life, I said, kid._

 _The girl in the woods?  
No blood with her family. _

_And that maiden in the tower?  
Dealing with him lost her sanity. _

_That wealthy prince?  
Crumbled beneath lies._

 _That fair man, once a thief?  
Couldn't find himself with many tries._

 _The witch has won, and should be very pleased.  
But deep inside, you're wrong; you'll see. _

_For this witch was no witch, but yet another pawn,  
And the one person she loved was playing them all. _

_With the power of what was an unbreakable heart,  
She captured them all, just to make a mark. _

_Bringing them to a land, that was once innocent and beautiful  
Now filled with shadows, monsters, not one of them pitiful._

 _The witch turned 'round for the better, and helped the broken.  
She was finding their happiness, and kindness was her token._

 _They travelled the dark land, putting happiness in your stories.  
All while fighting monsters; and what's next is a bit gory. _

_For the girl in the woods, with no blood to share,  
Became a shell of a woman, and it was just not fair. _

_While they all found their happiness, she was the only one.  
Who couldn't ever find the love she wanted, and just never won._

 _So when the traitor's castle was finally above them,  
She thought it was time to leave this cruel kingdom. _

_And when the battle had finally commenced,  
Was when the words were spoken; it was for the best. _

_The girl with no blood was oozing in crimson,  
And her brother-not-brother was mad at gift given. _

_Remember that witch, I told you about?  
Well, she ends up playing a big role, no doubt. _

_And for once in her life, she did not turn to slaughter  
For the girl with no blood reminded her of her daughter. _

_She said the words, soft and frail  
And exchanged her life for the survival of her tale. _

_..._

 _So I say the words today, kids, that there was no happy ending.  
But I think that's only 'cause the ending, was just the beginning. _

_Yeah, she died - so sad, boohoo.  
But out of it, blossomed a tale anew. _

_For now, finally, at the end of their rhyme,  
_ _so begins another,_

 _Once Upon A Time._

* * *

Jane closed the book as she looked at Stephanie's grave.

"The End."


End file.
